"Paranormal Activity": Scariest Thing Is the Unknown by Movie Reviewers on Creators.com

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"Paranormal Activity": Scariest Thing Is the Unknown

"Paranormal Activity" begins with a couple moving into a cookie-cutter, master-planned home that lacks history and doesn't feel at all scary. It's not like an old creepy Colonial house on a hill with cracked shutters and a dead tree in the front yard.

Soon after, Katie (Katie Featherston) has memories of being haunted by an ominous spirit. The demon has followed her all the way back to when she was 8 years old and her house burned down. Her boyfriend, Micah (Micah Sloat), is skeptical at first, but buys a video camera so the couple can film their lives and, more importantly, themselves sleeping. And in "Blair Witch" and "Cloverfield" style, the film is entirely from the perspective of their video cam, giving movie viewers' a greater jolt at what they cannot see than what they can.

First-time director Oren Peli paces the film well, with the tension slowly building for the first hour, and then rising to a creepy crescendo in the last half-hour. At one point the camera catches Katie, in an unconscious haze, standing over the bed staring eerily at Micah before she sleepwalks downstairs.

Unlike some horror flicks in which the antagonist is clearly identified and seen frequently throughout the film, what makes "Paranormal Activity" scary is the unknown.

It is never clear exactly what Micah and Katie are dealing with, and as time passes, as the disturbances get more aggressive and frightening, the audience's squirming increases along with it. People who get nauseous at the mere thought of bouncy, hand-held cameras and those who prefer their horror bloody, gory and violent from beginning to end may skip "Paranormal Activity," but a bone-chilling conclusion is the reward.

As of this writing, "Paranormal Activity" was about 350,000 votes short of opening nationwide.

For the last few weeks, Paramount Pictures has allowed fans to vote online to request the movie in their hometown. If it reaches 1 million total votes, the studio will give the film a wide release.

Considering some of the cliches that make it to movie theaters, you'd think horror film fans would welcome "Paranormal Activity" as a fresh face on the often stale roster of Halloween movies.

It was made for about $15,000 in a San Diego suburb tract house by Israeli-born video game designer and new filmmaker Peli. Originally, the studio planned to remake the film with a bigger budget. But they tested the original version first and got positive feedback. It was a good decision because — like "The Blair Witch Project" — the movie gets a lot of mileage out of using hand-held cameras and unrecognizable talent, which gives "Paranormal Activity" a sense of realism.

(Some films are just better in their original form: "El Mariachi" was better than the big studio version with Antonio Banderas, "Desperado.")

Peli is reportedly working on a new film, "Area 51," with a bigger budget this time. So enjoy his bare bones, realistic (and effective) style while you can.

"Paranormal Activity." Rated: R. Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes. 3 stars.

To find out more about Tovin Lapan and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.