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There are some movies that work better as events or experiences than as actual movies. Remember "Snakes on a Plane" a few years back? I remember seeing people dressed as snakes or wearing homemade "SoaP" t-shirts, and I vividly recall the entire audience and myself screaming the infamous "motherfucking snakes on a motherfucking plane" line along with Samuel L. Jackson. But do I remember what happened in the movie itself? Not really.
"Paranormal Activity" is a film of a similar ilk. Instead of providing campy fun, "Paranormal Activity" wants to scare you, but its approach is unconventional. It makes you wait for the scares, building tension while essentially nothing is happening. It's one of those movies where it's perfectly appropriate to turn to your neighbor and say, "Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit" while the only thing on screen is a couple sleeping in bed.
Talking, nervous laughing and, of course, screaming are part of the experience, not detractors from it.
The premise is simple: a girl named Katie has experienced mild paranormal phenomena throughout her life, and her live-in boyfriend Micah wants to capture it on film. He buys a hi-def camera and sets it up on a tripod to capture any "paranormal activity" (hey, that's the name of the movie!) while they're sleeping. We see only what Micah's camera sees, and the result is an obviously "Blair Witch"-inspired horror film that is occasionally genuinely scary.
But it's all so silly, really. It's the type of horror movie where you scream and then laugh at yourself for falling for it. But it's okay, because everybody else is screaming and laughing too.
"Paranormal Activity" is a better horror film than most, because it relies on anticipation and mood to create suspense and terror, not cheap special effect gags – with the exception of the very last shot, which is a real cop-out.
The thing is, most enjoyment while watching the film comes from the reactions of others around you. Every time the couple goes to bed, you can feel the crowd psyching themselves out and dreading what the demon will do this time. Will it be more footstep sounds, or perhaps something more, like the door moving slightly?
When "Paranormal Activity" comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray, people will probably rent it and say, "Audiences were scared of that?" And rightfully so. On its own merits, it's not a great horror movie. But if you take a group of your friends to a midnight showing and expect to have a good time, you'll get your money's worth.
