Seen on: October 7, 2009
The players: Director: Oren Peli, Writer: Oren Peli, Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Michael Bayouth
Facts of interest: Produced with less than $15,000.
The plot: A happy couple moves into a hew suburban home and is soon haunted by a mysterious spirit at night.
Our thoughts: Now I clearly understand why midnight showings and all kinds of other screenings of Oren Peli’s low-budget horror thriller “Paranormal Activity” have been selling out everywhere. It’s an utterly intense and totally frightening big-screen experience that embraces simplicity but delivers one heck of a superb show.
Peli certainly didn’t reinvent any genre with this flick, but he sure managed to create a small film stuffed with solid thrills and surprises that even successfully scared this reviewer. Yes, you can definitely count me among all those who say “Paranormal Activity” is one of the scariest films they’ve seen in ages.
Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat play a young couple moving into a typical suburban house, looking forward to their experience of living together for the first time. Unfortunately, they soon start to experience a series of mysterious events that particularly disturb their peace at night, when they’re trying to sleep.
Determined to find out what all these unsettling noises and a potential presence of something creepy are all about, Micah decides to record their bedroom at night with a video camera. His findings are quite disturbing, and what happens next is entirely up to you to discover…
“Paranormal Activity” takes some time to build up suspense and reach a fast pace driven by many scary moments and terrifying scenes, but all in all, this is anything but a boring movie. Additionally, select shock effects and the overall dark, creepy atmosphere work better than in any other big-budget Hollywood horror flick.
The story of course is way over the top and the characters’ decisions are questionable, but these are issues that really don’t matter this time around. Most importantly, they don’t even interfere with the film’s goal to frighten its audience, and that’s one of the reasons I absolutely enjoyed this experience.
Paramount did the right thing sending the film into a bigger release, because I honestly can’t remember when I last saw a horror film that scared me this much. It takes a lot to make me feel fear in a movie, but this one kept its promise and made me jump in my seat more than once.
Freaky quote: "Something's here!" – Katie Featherston
The final word: At this point, that’s all I want to say about “Paranormal Activity.” Go out there and discover it yourself, and return to join the discussion. For people in love with scary flicks that take them by surprise, this is a winner. It’s based on such a simple, easy concept, but it works throughout. Enough said.
Article by Franck Tabouring