WARNING: The following contains slight spoilers for Paranormal Activity.
In lieu of the massive hype this film has established in its limited theatrical release - mostly due to word of mouth, though it is garnering praise from critics across the nation as well - I decided that I might provide my thoughts on it. Having seen the film twice, I do believe that modern American horror cinema has finally received a faint glimmer of hope in the form of Paranormal Activity.
Back in 1999, The Blair Witch Project was released utilizing documentary-style film-making in a fictional narrative setting. While this trait was not wholly new or unique, as films have possessed this quality in the past, the phenomenon surrounding the film's release marked it as a horror film that stood out in the genre. The story, while fictional, is presented in such a way that the uninformed viewer assumed what was happening was real - and that is what made the film stand out: what happened was very realistic and could very well happen. Combine a group of young adults making a documentary about a local horror story with getting lost in the woods and you have the makings of a very chilling film. Now, present the story through the eyes of the protagonist's camera as opposed to various shots that leave the camera observing from an omniscient standpoint, and the experience becomes even more personal.
This, in essence, is what filmmakers have sought to replicate and/or expand upon over the years. Cloverfield was a highly popular effort that presented a Godzilla-esque attack on New York City, as documented by one individual as he and his friends struggle to both discover what is happening and make it out alive. In Spain, [REC] follows a reporter and her cameraman who, while documenting a local fire station, wind up in the midst of a zombie outbreak. This film was later remade in the United States as Quarantine. And now we have Paranormal Activity. However, there is certainly something about this latest effort that sets it apart from the rest.
In Paranormal Activity, Micah and Katie (which happen to be the real names of the actors) have just moved in together after dating for three years. After Katie confides in Micah that she has been experiencing strange phenomena since her childhood (believing that she is being haunted by a ghost of some kind), he goes and purchases a rather nice video camera in hopes of documenting any strange occurrences. The couple consults a ghost expert, who believes that what Katie describes sounds more like a demon than a ghost, and thus with that knowledge in our minds, we are prepared for what follows. Suspense is built incredibly slowly. Micah sets up the camera in front of the bed to record the couple while they sleep at night, and at first nothing much happens. A faint noise can be heard in the audio track of the recorded footage and Katie's keys are on the kitchen floor when she wakes up - but these can be easily attributed to explanations that are far from supernatural. Then, on one night, the bedroom door moves slightly - no big deal, also easily explainable. However, moments later, it moves back to where it was. From here on out, it becomes very clear that something peculiar is going on.
The ghost expert mentioned that demons feed off of negative energy, of which there is plenty as Micah and Katie find themselves arguing frequently, and Micah openly provokes the invisible demon in hopes of something happening. This turns out to tragically only make matters much, much worse. What occurs at night becomes more and more bizarre and unsettling, until it carries over into the daytime hours as well. It is in this area that the film excels. The tension that is built with each passing night in front of the camera is pitch-perfect, culminating in what may well be some of the most disturbing final moments in recent cinema. The entire film is building up to a grand finale that, while somewhat expected, still manages to shock, unnerve, and leave the viewer in disbelief.
Part of the reason that the documentary-style technique works so well in Paranormal Activity is that, unlike most other films shot this way, fear is not created specifically out of what you do not see - the tension is built by what is in plain sight to the viewer. This is perhaps what makes the final moments of the film all the more terrifying, as this intimacy is suddenly stripped away and the viewer is not allowed to see all that transpires. I suppose, in some ways, that this fact would make Paranormal Activity sound very similar to films like Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project, but I assure you it is not. Certainly aiding the effect is the fact that, if one indulges in belief of supernatural phenomena, such events could actually happen - and especially given that most of the eerie occurrences happen while the couple is sleeping, a new layer of fear is mixed in.
In short, Paranormal Activity is a film that builds tension at an extraordinarily effective pace, utilizing documentary-style film-making reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project, though in contrast it creates tension explicitly through what the viewer sees, as opposed to what is not seen. This results in an incredibly effective finale that strips the viewer from the know-all-see-all perspective that they have become so accustomed to and, through leaving a few major details up the imagination, breathes much-needed life into the stagnant genre that is American horror cinema. Do yourself a favor: grab a friend or two and seek this film out; see it in a theatrical setting, and brace yourself for an unsettling yet insanely gratifying experience.
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