Paranormal Activity

Standing in line for a midnight showing wasn’t my idea of a good time. Americans are so used to these multiplex movie theaters that it seems awkward to do so, especially at a midnight showing. However, since it’s October and it’s nearing Halloween, this was a perfect chance to catch a screening of Paranormal Activity. After reading a few reviews and seeing a trailer on MTV (rare because I don’t really watch MTV these days), I grew curious and decided to bring some friends with me to one of the thirteen screenings. To my chagrin, everyone else had the same idea and we were forced to sit four rows from the back even though we had arrived a half hour early. I was terrified that I wasn’t going to see the screen and because of this, I began to laugh because I was so disappointed. Fortunately the energized crowd began to roar with excitement as the movie started to roll which helped calm my nerves down. The movie starts out casual, a very typical day in the life of a newly moved in suburban couple. Micah, the boyfriend, has purchased a new camera because his girlfriend, Katie, has told him that she is being followed by a presence. At night Micah sets up the camera by the bedside to record all the events to disprove her claim that she is haunted. With the camera’s night vision turned on and the timecode continuously running, strange events begin to occur. The doors slam, loud demonic screams are heard, and finally a picture of Katie as a child is found up in the attic. The only thing is that Micah continues to believe that this is all a joke and that it isn’t real (either that or he thinks that ghosts are nice and not mean spirited). His curiosity to delve deeper into the spiritual world is what keeps the plot moving and keeps the scares coming.

The ending was changed by the request of Spielberg and it makes it that much more terrifying.In fact, Spielberg was rumored to have turned off the movie half way through because he was too terrified to continue. For those of you who are splatter buffs, this movie is not for you. For those of you who like ghost stories and like the hitchcockian effect of filmmaking, this movie is very much for you. Very reminiscent to the Robert Wise 1963 movie “The Haunting” a movie like this one comes along once every ten years. Very good movie, and if you get the chance to see it with an audience, do so, it makes it that much more appealing.