Do you like scary movies? Not horror movie, but scary movies? Movies that make you feel like you are sitting in the dark and that something wrong is happening, something that sends chills up and down your spine...something very, very wrong? Then PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is the movie for you.
The story is simple. A young couple think there is a supernatural presence (i.e. ghost) in their house. They decide to set up cameras to catch evidence on film. Things get worse so they bring in an expert who tells them that it isn't a ghost it is a demon and trying to engage with the entity will only make it worse. The man decides to try anyway...and things get worse.
Now this isn't a movie about a demon. This isn't EVIL DEAD or any other monster movie. This is about being in that house as things start to happen and how it affects this couple. It's a movie about the sounds you hear when you are alone, about a picture that has been moved, about something happening that doesn't make sense that you can't seem to stop which is even worse because it is happening in your house.
If you want a fun creature feature movie, this is not is. If you want a good scary film like the classic 60's film THE HAUNTING, this is the best film in a long, long time.
HIGHLY RECOMEND
****** SPOILER *****
Okay, so let's talk writing. I mean, a haunted house story? Geez, how many of these things have there been? How the heck can a haunted house story be a buzz movie? How can it feel fresh even moreso when it's a 60's style haunted house story????
This is where they do two smart, smart things that make the story work. First is the concept of the couple setting up cameras. I mean, if you thought your house was haunted wouldn't you set up cameras? So right away the movie starts with the characters being smart. How many horror movies start off with people being smart? In the last five years, one. (Two is you include CLOVERFIELD.)
Second, it isn't a ghost story. Around the 30 minute mark (about the end of act one, right?) the couple call in an expert who tells them that it's not a ghost...it's a demon. Now in practical terms what changes? What is different from this "demon" from the story as a ghost? Nothing. Not a damn thing. But even so, that moment when the couple learns this isn't a ghost is a game changer. Up until then the audience kind of knows what to expect, but that change that it's not a ghost and now it's a demon...that means anything is possible and now those noises, those moving objects, those footprints become scary because we don't know what to expect.
It's such a small change and yet it might be the reason why this movie worked when so many other haunted house movies fail. If you want to make a movie that actually scares people, you have to find a way to break out of audience expectation, to change things so the audience can't get ahead of the story...to make them not know...because that's when they begin to feel scared.
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