DVD Reviews

Paranormal Activity

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Katie Featherston
• Details: US/86mins (15A)

Budgeted at a paltry $15,000, Paranormal Activity has gone on to rake in the kind of money that makes careers for the talent involved, and ensures promotions for the executives that bought it. While ridiculously billed as the most terrifying movie of all time, this is still well written and suspenseful stuff that takes its time before escalating into some hugely effective but subtle scares. Those horror fans that are used to the immediate satisfaction of the recent glut of gore-porn titles will find little here to quench their bloodlust, though.
Micah and Katie are a young couple living together for the first time. We first meet them through a camera that Micah is manning himself, and soon learn that Katie has been having issues of the supernatural variety. Micah has purchased the expensive camera in order to film them while they sleep, so that they might catch whatever has been whispering into Katie's ear at night. What they find is truly terrifying and only gets worse the more they try to find a solution. It seems they're attempting to capture the Sean Penn of demons, as both throw hissy fits of epic proportions when caught on camera.
This is a thriller that works primarily because of the patient build-up. Writer/director Oren Peli is smart enough to realise that the peril these characters are in is what is truly frightening. If we like them, then we buy the setup and become enthralled in their extreme predicament, which is where the movie would live or die. With the lack of budget and therefore suitable sound and visual effects, a lot rests on the shoulders of the actors, and both of them are really marvellous and deserve credit.
Peli's execution is what really makes this worthwhile, though. Shot entirely on camcorder, he knows how to build tension, and it'd be interesting to see what he does with a heftier budget. Hugely atmospheric and creepy stuff, just don't expect a continual barrage of scares, this is something else entirely.

Review by Mike Sheridan