Horrorfest 13: Paranormal Activity

Seems like the most talked about horror flick of this season is PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, so I checked it out today.

The problem is, the more buzz that surrounds a movie, the more likely it is that there will be a backlash of viewers who are let down. It's easier to be let down by a movie that's hailed as the scariest movie of all time than it is to be let down by a movie that's hailed as "kinda scary."

So, right now all the word of mouth is positive but I imagine in roughly a month or so people will be saying stuff like, "That wasn't scary at all," and, "That was a waste of money," and "What was the point?" If you find yourself saying stuff like that after seeing heavily-buzzed movies, avoid this one.

I try to pride myself on viewing movies on their own terms, within their own context, and attempt to take any hype or buzz, negative or positive, with a grain of salt. A lot of times, I'm not let down by the really built up flicks. Take THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and CLOVERFIELD, for instance. Any complaint you've heard about those films -- too shaky, not enough monster, not scary, etc -- I don't share. I liked both those flicks and thought they were effective in what they set out to do, and did it in an imaginative and original way.

So, when I say PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is just okay, and not great, and not terrible, you'll have to trust me that I'm giving my sincere opinion.

If you're not familiar, the flick is shot from the point of view of a young unmarried couple who are living together in what seems to be a haunted house, and the footage is presented as if it is the real thing, as opposed to what it really is, which is a mock-documentary with actors, actresses, a script and special effects. The male half of the couple buys camera equipment so he can attempt to document the seemingly ghostly goings on in the house. The female half of the couple is both more familiar with the hauntings, since they seem to have followed her her entire life, but also more reluctant to attempt to explore and engage with the ghosts.

Or are they demons? A visiting psychic is of the opinion that the house is haunted by a demonic spirit, which is more trouble than your average ghost.

In the first few scenes the couple is fairly engaging. Both have a good sense of humor and seem to have genuine warm feelings for each other. The guy is named Micah (pronounced Mee-kuh -- annoying, huh?). He's a day-trader and technophile who seems more wrapped up in his sweet new camera than the actual demons in the house. The girl is Katie, who is more scared, more superstitious, and has a mysterious history with the demons. She's constantly telling Micah to get the camera out of her face, Micah is constantly refusing to do so, and the tension mounts. Before long, the couple is sick of each other, and I'm kind of sick of them, too, although they're both good actors who turn in accomplished performances.

That's one of the pitfalls of a film like this -- with only one setting (the house) and a couple characters, only the most imaginative script will avoid repetition. To be fair, the repetition in this film serves to heighten some of the tension and suspense, but still, the screen time given to actual paranormal activities is outweighed by the screen time given to repetitive arguments that the couple in question wouldn't even rewatch, let alone complete strangers (the audience).

The film works if you're willing to always be looking in the background, waiting for whatever is to come. That's where most of the fun is. Waiting. When is it gonna happen? Now? No. Now? No? Now? Oh shit. Yes. Wait. That wasn't that great. I guess there will be a bigger happening later. Now? No. Now? No. Wait. . . what was that? Oh, nothing. Now?

And so on.

It's kind of like one of those episodes of the GHOST HUNTERS, except since this is fiction, ghostly stuff does happen from time to time, which is more than can be said for the Sci-Fi "reality" show. Also, Katie and Micah don't walk around acting like psuedo-skeptical experts, so that's nice. They mostly just act like regular people. That means they're douchey sometimes, but isn't everyone?

What kind of summary do I come to? I'm not sure. The movie mostly works while it's playing. When it's over you roll your eyes and shrug. I guess I could have either used a more spectacular finale, or, if we HAVE to have the finale we end up with, I could have used maybe about a half hour less of the movie to sit through, which would have done away with some of the repetition and would have stopped the movie from building up so much that it's hard to avoid disappointment.

Still, I'd be lying if I didn't admit I kept looking over my shoulder as I cooked dinner after I came home from the movie. Suddenly the building settling sounded a little more weird, the shadows seemed a little more foreboding, and stuff seen out of the corner of my eyes seemed a little more sinister. It wore off soon enough, but I guess for all the movie's weaknesses, it still works on a fundamental level.