Movie of the Week: Paranormal Activity

   

 

    Movie of the Week (9/29/13-10/5/13): This week marks the first week of October and we all know what that means, Halloween is coming! This time of the year is when we all like to be scared because we like it, it gives us a rush that we enjoy, so I figured why not get an early start. This film is one of the most recent horror pictures that is actually scary, along with its sequels, and not just a gore fest. I've become a fan of this franchise because it is one of the few horror franchises that will legitimately scare you. And by "scare you" I mean you will grip your armrest until your hands hurt and you will more than likely let out a terrifying scream or two and annoy the person you are watching it with, but that's okay because this is Paranormal Activity.    
    This is a fairly simple film to follow because it really only has two characters that it focuses on along with a couple other people who only have a short amount of screen time. The film follows two people in their home who began to think something is wrong with their home. They then decide to set up cameras and record the home, mainly their bedroom, at night. Well, soon things begin to take a turn for the worse as crazy and freaky things start to happen. Symbols pop up, noises are heard, things move as they rush to research what it is.
    This is shot in the 'found footage' genre which makes it much more creepy and scary to watch. That also means that the actors have to do that much better of a job because they are forced to act while they are holding the camera and at times have to talk to the camera. So, they almost have to act like normal people instead of acting, but that can be hard to do because of the multiple tasks they are asked to do. With that being said we get two solid performances from the two leads here, who use their real first names in the movie, Katie and Micah. We watch them interact with each other as a couple and then watch their reactions as things begin happening and they do a great job. We believe they are a couple that becomes terrified.
    The 'found footage' genre is good and bad at the same time because it brings multiple things to the table. One of the bad things about this movie are the angles, to put it simple there really aren't any because of one camera being used. That limits what we can see and what they can do as a movie, however that is the point, but some people don't like it. The good things here are what the filmmakers put on that one shot that grabs your attention and make you start to shake. That is what we have in this movie, the one angle can sit there but still make us tremble because we have no idea what is going to pop up next. There also has to be great editing in a film like this and we get just that with the changing of the scenes and pacing.
    Directing a movie like this would have to be hard too since the camera barely moves and a lot of the scenes are long cuts, which means a lot of preparation had to take place before filming each scene. The director, Oren Peli, deserves a lot of credit here because of his skill to direct such complicated long uncut scenes. In the end this is a very well done horror movie that brought back the 'found footage' genre since it was lost for a while after the Blair Witch Project. It was an original film that terrified people and continues to do so with its sequels. So, as we prepare for Halloween pop this in the player this week and start the month off right.
3/4 Stars