Paranormal Activity Review

“Paranormal Activity” is NOT the scariest movie of all-time.

I promise that’s not a slam against the movie. It’s just that I don’t believe there’s such thing as a “scariest movie of all time” (or “funniest movie of all time”) because what I find scary is probably not the same stuff that gives you the creeps.

Still, I thought I’d go ahead and let you know that “Paranormal Activity” is NOT the scariest movie of all time in the hopes that you somewhat ignore the escalating mountain of hype and enjoy this little chiller on its own merits.

Then again, that hype is the very reason people even know about this $15,000 thriller.

Going in, I was afraid I’d have another “Cloverfield” situation on my hands. A “Cloverfield” situation is when a movie’s marketing campaign ends up being the most interesting thing about it. (Of course, some of you might also call this a “Blair Witch Project” situation since that low-budget/shot-on-tape/did-this-stuff-really-happen? flick more closely resembles “Paranormal Activity.” However, I actually think “Blair Witch” delivered in terms of what it was trying to do.)

In that same vein, I believe “Paranormal Activity” also delivers. It tells a simple, creepy story in a very clever way and it has the extra added bonus of being a better-made film than “Blair Witch.”

Newcomers Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat star as a slightly vapid, twenty-something couple (is it redundant to say that they’re in their twenties and vapid?) who live in a house where things go bump in the night. Micah purchases a camera in the hopes of capturing the paranormal activity in their home, and everything the audience sees comes from the camera’s lens.

I won’t reveal anymore other than to say that things start off innocuously enough before director Oren Peli gradually ups the ante.

In fact, I’m sure the director’s pace is a little TOO gradual for some moviegoers. Personally, I enjoyed the relatively slow build for two reasons.

The first is that one of my absolute favorite sources of suspense in movies is when the audience knows something the characters on screen do not. This movie’s repeated signature shot is Micah’s camera silently videotaping the couple while they sleep and, um, stuff happens to them. Seeing, um, stuff occur that our sleeping protagonists were not aware of was gold for me. (This movie made me briefly consider sleeping with my bedroom door closed, until I realized that an evil spirit could easily open my door and that this was just a silly movie.)

I also appreciated the fact that this scary story wasn’t set in a decrepit mansion, a scary forest or an abandoned asylum — it took place in a house (Peli’s house actually) that looks like any house a young couple might live in. (I’ve got to get hardwood floors one day!)

The second reason I didn’t mind the leisurely pace is probably the same thing that annoys the heck out of a lot of people — Featherston and Sloat. The actors are alone on screen for approximately 95% of the movie and they do a good job convincing us that they’re a real couple. That is to say they’re often petty, selfish, stubborn, funny and annoying. I’m sure that turns a lot of people off, but I’ll take this sort of authenticity over the barely-drawn characters in “Cloverfield.” On top of that, I DID get the sense that Katie and Micah cared about each other.

Featherston, in particular, is strong since she’s the one in the couple most directly affected by what’s happening. Sloat has the more thankless role as the typical young lunkhead (if he hadn’t tried to convince his girlfriend to do a sex tape, I would’ve been shocked), but plays it well.

Of course, as with most horror movies, there are considerable gaps in logic. Micah, in particular, is distressingly stubborn in wanting to “take on” the evil spirit himself. (Get a clue, dude!) Also, while the movie works hard to establish that leaving the house won’t completely solve the problem, there HAS to be a point where these two fools just get the f--- out of that house!!

Still, these are problems you’ll find in any number of scary flicks, even good ones. “Paranormal Activity” may not be the scariest movie of all time, but it’s a good one.

Paranormal Activity…B+