Paranormal Activity

'The entire auditorium was freaked out of their minds.. people were physically shaken.'

- Dread Central

Paranormal Activity is the new Blair Witch Project and it's currently taking the cinemas by storm as people freak out and argue online about whether it is real or not...

Yes, I jumped and I freaked (but I didn't scream) when she is dragged out of bed by an invisible force, when there are random loud bangs and the door moves by itself, and shadows move when they're not supposed to...but what I enjoyed most was the editing! I knew from the start that it couldn't be a real film and so I really liked how they constructed the film and through that invited everybody to imagine how it could easily be them. The budget was only $15,000 and they have, so far, grossed $100 million, making it the most profitable independent film ever made. The shooting was completed in 7 days - "It was a very intense week," Peli recalled, stating that the film would be shot day and night, edited at the same time, and would have the visual effects applied to it as the footage was being finalized by the actors whom Peli called, "unbelievably professional and smart" throughout, adding that they surpassed being actors and became true "storytellers." - but it took more than 2 years to reach Cineworld down the road.

(It got taken to Slamdance Festival in 2007 but it spent a few years being tossed between Miramax, Dreamworks and Paramount Pictures. Eventually when the film was screened in Santa Monica with a sold out crowd of teenagers (mostly), its reputation was cemented and Peli and Blum sold its international rights to 52 different countries. The buzz generated from this convinced Adam Goodman (Paramount's main executive) to release the film on the fall schedule. At one point it also received 1,000,000 demands on ParanormalMovie.com and it then jumped over the pond to my wee Glasgow and beyond!)

The set was Peli's own home but he refurbished to suit the setting but the young couple's set up is nothing unusual and they're “engaged to be engaged.” Living in a two-storey house – which is something that's identifiable with people all over the world. – they buy a camera to record what goes on while they sleep...

The editing creates a lot of the tension that build up gradually throughout the film – there is a sense of equilibrium at the beginning (and the inciting incident is when the door moves by itself on the third night of filming) but the end is the peak incident and there is no equilibrium achieved, which is what makes the last shot so terrifying.The night vision forces us to see things in a more alien environment – we are not used to that because we are usually sleeping too when it's dark with no lights on. The power in being able to see the things that happen when Katie and Micha can't is scary in itself. There is no warning as to when the next fright is going to come along because they are in the most vulnerable human state – asleep. There's no constant “what was that?”, no “let's get the gun and find them”, and this helps generate pure fear when we hear the loud bangs and unnatural growls as and when the characters do. The only warning that is given is when digits stop fast forwarding and play – the anticipation in that was huge – because we knew we were about to see something awful, or scary, or incomprehensible. By remaining stationary and flicking through the hours and minutes and seconds made me feel time and the night was out of my control but somehow the demon was – because the only reason why the clock would stop is when the demon was present.

The special effects were impressive I gotta say that – the shadows moving with no lead got to me the most – every human being in this world has a shadow which follows them with no exception – so to see that in such a realistic environment creeped me out!

There are three endings for Paranormal Activity and I think a combination would've worked well. In the original cut there was an extended scene about the possessed girl they found on the internet and footage is shown of her chewing off her own arm. (Ewww...) The ending for the original cut doesn't show Micha's body being thrown at the camera, but instead Katie coming back to the bedroom holding a knife with blood on her top. She then rocks back and forth on the floor and stays there for the day. A message is left on the phone by her friend Amber, who then comes to the house to find Micha's body downstairs. Katie is then shot by the police when they arrive as she comes out of her catatonic state, but when the door slams behind them the police let fire. The movie ends with audo of the police discovering the camera as the credits roll. The third ending, according to Oren Peli, was shown at only one public viewing and Katie returns to the bedroom with the knife and slitting her own throat in view of the camera.

The audience was interesting as well. The theatre was full (around 600 seats) with adults in their 20s, 30s, 40 and 50s to teenagers ages 12-19. A lot of teenagers came in large groups and they were typical of the working class Glaswegian culture in the way they dressed and acted. (I felt almost embarrassed at the 'arty' trailers as I knew plenty were not interested, or taking the mick.) They were extremely interactive – when the lights went down a big 'oooh' went up and when the timer stopped everyone tensed up and you could hear people muttering “oh my god”. Mainly though, there was just a lot of screaming. Especially from the to girls in my row – it got to the point I didn't even know what screams were coming from the screen or from the audience!

I enjoyed PA for its use of camerawork, editing and the seco poo nd last frame of the film – Micha's body being thrown at the camera delivers a shock because you literally don't see it coming – however, this is let down by the poor anaesthetics (the blood on her shirt looks like tie-dye!) and the shot of her lunging at the camera – its not realistic.

Barely three stars for the end product, 5 stars for the idea.

P.S There is a number 2 in the pipeline....