Paranormal Activity: Movie Review

No one can deny that “Paranormal Activity” has hit a certain note these past few months - a film that initially cost only $15,000 (around Php720,000) to make went out and made more than 7 thousand times that amount. Some may see this as the result of a one-of-a-kind marketing scheme in which people “beg” for it to be screened at their hometown. Others may say that the film is so good that the word spread like wild fire. Honestly, we think it is a mix of both. But simply put, “Paranormal Activity” is the film to see this quarter and maybe even the whole year. The last time we saw an independent film garner this much attention was “The Blair Witch Project”. Now that “Paranormal Activity” has finally hit our shores, can it bring forth the gauntlet against all the hype? Read on to find out what our opinion is.

Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston) is a soon-to-be-engaged couple living together. Katie has always thought that a ghostly presence have been with her since she was a small girl. She believes that the ghost has followed her on their two-story house - Micah believes that this is more imagination than fact. Micah one day decides to buy a camera and film the couple while they are sleeping in the hopes of capturing some evidence of paranormal activity. For the first few days, nothing happens which prompts Katie to consult a psychic. The psychic deems that the presence is not a ghost but in fact a demon. This is not his specialty and so leaves the couple without any much help – he only advises not to provoke/contact the entity or else it might amped up its temper causing more harm. Micah does not listen and actually mocks the demon several times, even trying to speak to it through the Ouija board. As the nights progress, the paranormal activities become more frequent and more physical.

“Paranormal Activity” is a slow ride that might disappoint people who expects too much out of it. This film is truly unique in its approach and how it was able to present the various paranormal activities but for us, the film could have been a better experience if more time was put into pacing and cutting some excesses. The primary problem is the length of the segments where nothing actually happens (this is more apparent in the first part of the movie). It made the film boring and the scare factor was slightly affected. The best part of the movie is obviously the middle of the night segments - the tension of expecting something to happen is very stressful and yet so thrilling and gratifying. Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston played their roles well. They acted really natural – if not knowing that this was a movie, we could have mistaken it as the real deal. Ultimately, we think this film’s performance suffered with all the massive hype it had to go through. If we saw this before all the glitz and glamour, the experience could have been way, way better. We advice people to see this just to experience something out-of-the-ordinary for the horror genre.

Rating: 3 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:
- the tension you feel is something else
- superb acting that comes frightfully natural from both actors

Why you shouldn’t watch it:
- film is composed more of talking parts than scary segments which makes it very slow on some end
- ultimately suffers with all the hype surrounding it

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