Quickcard Review Paranormal Activity
Directed by: Oren Peli Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs Running Time: 1 hr. 30 mins Rating: R Release Date: 10/09/09
CLICK HERE to read Morrow McLaughlin complete TSR
PLOT: Micah (Micah Sloat) decides to video tape the paranormal experiences that are occurring with his girlfriend Katie. He's curious, she's scared. Together they try to figure out what to do while things go bump in the night.
WHO'S IT FOR?
OVERALL
Sweaty palms ... that's the power of Paranormal Activity. Can't Micah, Katie and the demon just get along? The home video is always on, to create a vibe of almost real, and it works very well. It never feels like you're watching a movie. Even if the acting between Sloat and Featherson doesn't feel like authentic home video, it never enters moviedom. It feels more like a film student's college project, and that's a compliment. If anything had felt stag, or over-stylized, the nighttime scenes would have never works, and oh how they work. If you like ghost stories you're going to want to get in line and hold on (to whoever is sitting next to you). Each night brings a new kind of chill to the mix.
There are lows, with questions like, "Why didn't they at least try to leave the house?" There's also the over-talking by Katie. It seems the fact that there's no score or soundtrack means they decided to fill all gaps with yammering. But here's the thing, annoyance and anger are beaten every time by nervousness with Paranormal Activity. There was one point in Night #18 (it shows the nights on the screen) where I thought things were getting stale. Then Night #20 happens, yup, just got chills again. I won't harp on the final two seconds, which is a mistake, because before the final two seconds the ending works wonders. Perhaps I'll rail on that in full detail when Morrow McLaughlin and I go back and forth with a He Said/She Said.
Here's the influence of a good movie ... I talked to my friend right after I saw the flick. He said his friend saw it with a group and later they all seperately realized they were nauseous after seeing the movie. He asked how my stomach was feeling. Immediately I realized my stomach was feeling a little queasy. Oh my god, the movie has some sort of power ... or maybe it was the half bag of Sour Patch Kids ... And my mind returns to normal, but It was nice (and scary and sweaty) to live paranormal for almost two hours.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10