Paranormal Activity (2007)

When things go bump in the night you can’t help but let your imagination take flights of fancy. Paranormal Activity takes full advantage of the fears of the dark that many people have delivering some fresh scares and big creepy moments. Actually there’s no better place than a packed theater to get swept away by the terrors that Paranormal offers.

Rating:

It begins with a simple set up; a couple, Micah and Katie, are dealing with supernatural activity in their home. Micah wants to document it all with his new video camera and it all seems like a game to him. Katie on the other hand is quite disturbed by the occurrences but offers to indulge his methods in hopes of explaining the things that are happening.

With the camera set up in the corner of their room as they sleep each night some strange things are caught on film, but no real answers as to why they’re being attacked. Right away the mood is set and everyone is left waiting and watching that dark room. It just escalates and you have no idea of what to expect. The tension is set at an all time high.

Katie tries turning to a psychic for help and feels that things are far worse then Micah realizes. Micah insists he knows what’s right and is more fascinated with getting things on film and trying to coerce the spirit for more action. That’s a no-no and everyone in the theater seems to know it! In fact that’s where watching this movie with a crowd really comes to play. The vibe in the theater is quite tense, you can feel and hear others getting more anxious making yourself even more scared and yet no one is looking away.

Now viewing the gimmick tactic trailer, which shows audience reactions of watching the movie, might ruin ones own viewing experience in the theater. The less known going in will allow one to get completely immersed and perhaps petrified by all the strange events.

A lot of comparisons have been made between Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch but Paranormal seems to have taken technique and fine-tuned it well. Sometimes less is more, centering the dynamic between Katie and Micah you connect with them depending on which side you’re on as the believer or skeptic there’s always some creepy and scary shit going on.

To delve into details of nightly attacks or why they’re attacked only ruins the surprises. Yes, it’s getting hyped as one of the scariest movies and with good word of mouth you’re bound to have some things ruined so just go watch it. Go, enjoy a very good horror movie. Sit back, settle into the darkness, further suspend some disbelief and let yourself be scared silly. You’ll probably have to sleep with a light on afterwards too, cause it will get under your skin.