Paranormal Activity - Some Commentary

Yes, yes, I know. Of course I've bloody seen it (nice of my co-author to check back with me I must say!). Is it a shameless rip off? Well, you could say that about any film genre ever that's represented - in fact you could say that slasher films have many times more 'rip off' films than the 'found footage subgenre, but that's another argument for another time. I am after all providing some commentary to one film, rather than debating it's existence within the sub-genre in which it sits.

One thing that Marvel Man hit the nail on the head with is the implication that this is a marmite film. It most certainly is. Let's set the scene:

Story - there's a spoiler in here, but only one
A couple, one a well off male named Micah and the other, Katie (a student who apparently only studies once in the whole film) live in a big, nice house. Katie claims she's been haunted at various periods of her life, so Micah suggests they use a video camera to record it. This provides the 'found footage' that the film entirely comprises of. So, what is shown? Well, a variety of scenes unfold including a ouija board setting alight, doors opening and closing by themselves, lights going on and off, strange noises etc. Eventually rolling into a possession story (sorry if you didn't expect that).

Positives
It's a great film for the horror fan who prefers to leave much to the imagination when it comes to scenes. It's not all background music, swelling scores, blood all over the place. Quite the opposite. It's naturalistic almost in style. To top this, a fan of the genre who is familiar with apparent 'real life' cases of hauntings will spot the poltergeist build up and will get a thrill from the way in which the action ratchets up a notch every night. Finally, Paranormal Activity keeps the action claustraphobic and places the protagonist in danger in the place we are meant to feel most safe/secure - our own bedroom.

Negatives
The film is over long. Some may disagree, but I felt it just strayed into the slightly too long territory, with a little much exposition for my taste. This brings me to another criticism - Micah. It's almost as though the two things are tied togther. I find that some of his actions were completely inexplicable to me - the thing with the flour was sensible enough, but he offered up no alternative when they couldn't reach the demonologist - when everyone who has seen any single haunting type horror would have been shouting 'go and see a priest!'. Micah also repeatedly goads the demon or whatever it is, despite seeing evidence literally in front of his eyes that supernatural activity is taking place - yet not denying it is happening.

The ending
Perhaps the biggest let-down for me was the ending. I've no doubt that getting the ending of a 'found footage' film is a tricky thing, but man... I heard that Steven Spielberg had something to do with it. How do you say no to a guy like that? In this case, I think they should have done. I'm not offering an alternative, I'm just saying that the ending didn't resonate with me. It wasn't terrible, but it did feel awfully 'Hollywood' for my taste.

Should I see it?
The question really is, why haven't you seen it yet? You'll either love it (flaws and all) or are possessive of no imagination and hate it. Entirely up to you, but it's a worthy addition to the genre. One can only hope that, if there is a sequel, it takes a more standard narrative progression for a possession tale.