Hollywood Horror Movie paranormal Activity 2009
Cast And Crew
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
Director: Oren Peli
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Sep 25, 2009 Limited
Reviews
A haunted house makes no secret of the fact it is not pleased with its new tenants in this independent tale of supernatural horror. Katie (Katie Featherson) and Micah (Micah Sloat) are a twentysomething couple who've just moved into a new home in San Diego, California. Katie has an interest in the paranormal and believes that malevolent spirits have been following her since childhood, though Micah is not so easily convinced. However, after several nights of loud noises and strange happenings, Micah starts to agree with Katie that some sort of ghost may have followed them to the new home. After a paranormal researcher tells the couple he can't help them, Micah decides to take control of the situation and sets up a battery of video cameras so that if a spirit manifests itself, he can capture its behavior on tape. Once the surveillance cameras are in place, Katie and Micah bring in a Ouija board in an effort to talk to the spirits, a move that deeply offends the ghosts. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was the first feature film from writer-director Oren Peli.
After a young, middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban "starter" tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.
The second sneak preview of the Telluride Film Festival, the indie-turned-studio horror pic "Paranormal Activity," unspooled in perfect conditions late Saturday: outdoors, in the dense darkness of midnight under pouring rain. And the audience, which stuck it out under makeshift ponchos and umbrellas, were primed for the experience.
By now the backstory to "Paranormal Activity" is the stuff of indie-film lore. Made with a single camera for
$11,000 in one house, the movie caught the attention of Paramount, which noted the film's low-budget spooks, saw it as a potential breakout along the lines of "The Blair Witch Project" and proceeded to acquire the title.
The movie almost didn't make it to the fest. Telluride programming directors invited the film but could only schedule it for the Abel Gance Open Air Cinema, which screens 35 mm prints. But two days before the festival kicked off, Paramount said that it had converted two 35 mm prints and was flying them up. The movie arrived two hours before showtime.
Oren Peli's film follows an an unmarried couple harassed by paranormal forces and their attempts to uncover the culprits. The essence of its psychological hook comes with several time-lapse shots of the couple asleep in their bed while all manner of bizarre but subtle phenomena unfold around them.
At the screening, the crowd often muttered admonitions to the terrified characters onscreen and gasped in unison at impending threats. And while the film indeed can flirt with the obvious -- it stretches its concept a little long and repeats itself -- it also plays on our most basic fears upon falling asleep.
And the ending? The less said about it, the better. Let's just say I walked back to my hotel looking over my shoulder every few steps.
When people begin describing a movie as being "Very much like 'The Blair Witch Project,'" there’s a collective groan and eye roll that emerges from audiences. Whether you loved the movie or hated it, people are very turned off by the whole mock documentary/found footage movie theme that was popularized by "Blair Witch," but in all respect, it’s become a great way for indie filmmakers to tell their story and save money. It’s cheaper, and it allows for a grittier realism that sometimes works and sometimes falls flat on its face. "Paranormal Activity" succeeds with flying colors. It’s a brutal, exhausting, and genuinely horrifying little ghost flick that really makes me rethink my stance on horror films altogether.
The last independent film to use this medium that won me over and has yet to catch on is "In Memorium" a movie very much in the vein of "Paranormal Activity" with pretty much the same arc and concept, and "Paranormal Activity" is in that small sub-genre that works, thanks to great performances and wonderful direction that sell the packaged concept of the entire film being "found footage" depicting a supernatural occurrence that inevitably ruins a happy couple. "Paranormal Activity" has become a slightly controversial independent film that has continued the pretense that what we’ve seen here may or may not be fictional.
Like "Street Thief," the folks behind this have declined to truly explain if what we’re watching is pure fiction from innovative filmmakers, or the most realistic footage of a demonic presence we’ll ever see, and the approach toward blurring the lines of fiction and reality have split the audience for this. Fictional or not, "Paranormal Activity" acts upon its illusion wonderfully with incredible performances from its duo (if they ARE performances, that is), and utterly incredible special effects (If they ARE special… you know the rest). "Paranormal Activity" may be intent on deceiving us in a way, but for all intents and purposes, it’s a wonderful horror film that truly convinces me that the ghost sub-genre isn’t dead, after all.
Every bit of dialogue feels natural, and every moment of misery, mental torture, and pain feels genuine. Micah and Katie have moved in together, and Katie is convinced that she’s been haunted all of her life. This presence that’s watched over her has apparently followed her everywhere, including this new house, and the apparition that resides with them seems to have a fond interest in Katie. Her vain and selfish boyfriend Micah is a man who seeks to document the spectacle with his camera and equipment and purposely ignores Katie’s pleas to respect the paranormal presence and refrain from taunting it. But as the nights pass, the events in the house become much more harrowing and the deliberately paced "Paranormal Activity" takes us along for this grueling experience with every breath.
Micah is first amused by the proceedings and gradually comes to the realization that this benevolent force will be the death of the two and no one can help them. Every day there’s a wash of relief over the couple and the audience who feels safer but will dread the night. Every introduction of night time footage in the master bed room brings with it a sense of sheer terror of what unfolds ever so slowly. There’s nary an explanation of whom or what is terrorizing this couple, and there’s barely any hint to what is bringing terror to this household. Claw prints appear along the floors, recollections of a childhood fire Katie experienced is constantly alluded to, and the night takes on a whole new force of evil that makes every passing moment an experience that will actually leave you covering your eyes with caution.
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