Suffering From Paranormal Activity

With all the goings on of last weekend, I forgot to post the review for Paranormal Activity. So now I hang my head in shame. Well, maybe not shame really. I will review one of the most talked about horror movies of recent. This movie, this phenomena, was made with only the budget of a new car these days…some $15,000. It went on to made $77,873 the first weekend it was released and now stands at having made over $100 million overall. The director Oren Peli had a concept. Sure he likened it somewhat after The Blair Witch Project of ten years ago, with a handheld camera giving a documentary type feel. But that is where the similarity ends with Paranormal Activity.

A couple, Micah and Kate, have been living together for awhile. We are told that Micah is a daytrader and Kate is a college student. We don’t know how long they have been living together. No idea how serious they really are. They joke about being engaged to be engaged. But what we do know is that things have been a little off lately. And Micah’s curiosity is peaked, so he decides to buy a nice video camera that will be run mostly in the evening. Kate is against it, and we don’t know why, but we do find out later. She has been affected by the spirit world in the past.

The Happy Couple

As the story unfolds, noises are held and a presence is felt. So Kate asks a well-known demonologist of sorts to come speak with her and her boyfriend. The expert informs the couple that there is something in their house. He isn’t sure if it’s friendly or not. He doesn’t really help, so Micah feels compelled to keep running the video camera all night now. He is determined to find out what is going on with his girl and his house. A Ouija board catches fire. Footprints are found. Lights are turned on and off. There of course is more but…

I won’t ruin it for you. By now, you have heard how it ends and about the alternate endings. Maybe you saw the first alternate ending (you can find it on fearvid.net) All I will say is that the ending I viewed was the best one…not too bloody or drawn out. This movie was made in a pretty simple but startling way. You get clues along the way the kind of presence Micah and Kate are dealing with. The ending comes out of the blue. What you thought would happen doesn’t. When the credits begin to not roll (yes I said not roll), you are left in the movie theatre, shaking your head in wonder.

Paranormal Activity was good. Not in the flashy effects way. Not in the too gruesome for words. PA was about a story and building up to the ending. PA was quite simply one of the best horror movies this critic and fan has seen in a while. If you haven’t seen Paranormal Activity yet, then go do. Find where it’s playing and keep an open mind. All those naysayers out there didn’t go with an open mind. They believed or disbelieved the hype, and so they never got the point of the movie. For those people, I feel sorry!

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