Paranormal Activity: Review By JT's Movie Page

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY REVIEW

By J.T. Johnson

Director: Oren Peli

Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs

In 2007, director Oren Peli decided to shoot a film about a couple that was being haunted in their homes. The result was “Paranormal Activity” and after a long delay, the movie finally got its wide release on October 16, 2009.

The film follows Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat). The two have been a couple for three years. Katie is a college student that who claims that she has been haunted by something since she was eight-years-old. Micah is a day-trader who has decided to buy a camera and try to catch the evidence on tape.

The two also decide to hire a psychic (Mark Fredrichs) to investigate the house. Dr. Fredrichs comes to the conclusion that the couple is being targeted by a demon. He also recommends that they should get help from someone else because he senses that the demon does not want him there.

While Micah’s only concern seems to be filming the events, Katie just wants to leave the ghost alone. This is because Katie concludes that there is nothing they can really do and that they should just try to live with it.

The film is being compared to “The Blair Witch Project” and that is a good observation. The film even sets up the film by saying that the footage was found and is now being presented to audiences for the first time. This is the same gimmick used by “The Blair Witch Project” ten years ago and “Cloverfield” last year.

The big difference between “Blair Witch” and “Activity” is that things happen in this film. “Blair Witch” had three characters that were running around the woods screaming at the sounds around them. No one really knew whether or not something was really after them until almost the end. Even then, audiences were left to decide for themselves. In this film, the audience knows that the couple’s house is dominated by some evil force.

The best scenes in the film are the ones set up at night. It is nothing but a still camera observing the room while Katie and Micah sleep. While the clock is ticking down, strange things begin to happen. First, it starts out small enough. The door moves by itself or the audience begins to hear the sounds of something walking across the wooden floor.

Then things get really freaky with the door slamming, the lights in the other rooms coming on or, worse yet, Katie mysteriously waking up and standing over the bed for hours on end silently watching her husband. These events are truly chilling to watch and are worth the price of admission.

This is remarkable considering that the camera is completely still the whole time. It is ultimate proof that filmmakers do not need to always have a frantic chase with a constantly moving camera. It is more like a magic show. The audience is constantly looking for the answer to the trick. However, when the camera is just sitting there with things happening in front, it completely sucks the viewers in and leaves them wondering how the filmmakers pulled it off.

Being that the film is like “Blair Witch” and “Cloverfield,” the film also suffers from the same problems that those films suffered from, as well. It does take its time to truly start up before anything creepy begins to happen. Also, there are times when the viewer is wondering why the idiot with the camera is still concerned with filming the events rather than doing something about them.

In this case, that person is Micah. While Sloat tries to act like a caring boyfriend, he comes off as a jackass that is more concerned about his camera than his girlfriend’s well-being.

Featherston, however, is completely convincing as Katie. When she is scared, the audience believes it. There is no acting here and it would be surprising to find out that Featherston was not actually freaked out while filming.

The only other problem with the film is that some of the scenes during the day are a bit repetitive and boring. There are only a few scenes needed to show that Katie is scared and Micah is a dick with a camera. The film could have benefitted by trimming down a few of these scenes.

However, despite the film’s faults, it does its job and it is a truly chilling film and one that audience members should definitely experience.

3 / 5 Stars - Good