Paranormal Activity (2009)
After finally getting to see this, feeding a need largely manufactured by it's online presence and nifty marketing (the 'demand-a-viewing' option on the website is a neat trick, for example) I have to say that I am suitably impressed. Depending on who you listen to or what magazine you subscribe to, the cost of this film has been quoted from anywhere between as little as $200 to over a million, such is the hype, buzz and excitement around the films' eventual major release. This has been knocking about the fringes at festivals for nearly a year, let's not forget, and only now makes it's first appearance at the top of the US movie charts. Regardless, this 'in your face, camera on your shoulder' approach to frightmaring certainly hasn't done this effort much harm. Much like Blair Witch, which is the most accessible and recognisable simile to what we are presented here with, is the same realism it produced. What sets this and Blair Witch apart from other forays into this kind of handheld, documentary style story-telling of it's type, like REC or Cloverfield as examples, is the acting we are presented with.
In order for a movie to be successful when pretending to be a documentary, the characters need to be fully rounded. Even more so than just your usual biopic. This is in your face, happening now and at breakneck speed. There is little time for character development. What you see is pretty much what you get. So for the purposes of appeal, make sure you pick a character that is preferably pretty (if a girly) or chiselled (if a bloke) and none too complicated. They must still have enough practicable appeal for you to care about what happens to them, but not so much that they are too complex to understand in the limited amount of time you have to get to know them. Here we have pretty much exactly what we need.
At a smidgen under ninety minutes in length, it's fair to say the action sequences are sparing, punctuated by extended periods of calm and when the action comes, it is often purposefully understated. The calm, however is always littered with possibilities and you really never know when something will happen next. This effect is heightened by a lack of familiar tools to create tension, like sound effects or mood music. This simply sets most of it's action on a single fast forwarding frame from a camera at the foot of the bed. Even sittting watching the time zip forward when nothing is happening is intense as you wait for the clock to stop, knowing that some thing is about to happen when it does, but having no idea whether this will be the appearance of a demon or merely the half-conscious fumblings of a nocturnal visit to the toilet.
The performances by everyone involved amplify a project produced with little or no pressure. Given it's modest budget and it's apparent freedom from production timescales, this is a relaxed and sauntering affair. A fact which translates into the comfortable, if not outstanding performances by the major players.
On the whole, this was a very enjoyable piece of cinema, proving the point that budget does not make for quality and that the horror/scare genre has so much more to offer than the annual forays into the Saw franchise and unoriginal remakes of the highs of horror cinema from decades gone by. Recommended viewing for people that enjoy a fright enough to keep them on the edge of the their seat, but don't want to be forced to endure a blood and guts trial for the eyes. This directs it's attention straight at the mental, not the physical. When I finished viewing it, I wasn't so concerned about locking the doors before I went to bed, but more about what might be going on the in the house as we all slept.
