Deafening buzz surrounds this ultra-low-budget chiller, shot documentary-style when a young couple sets up a night-vision camera in their bedroom to see what's been weirding them out while they sleep. Or try to. DP
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Thanks to an ingenious marketing campaign ("Demand it!") on par with 1999's "The Blair Witch Project" and last year's "Cloverfield," almost everyone knows about "Paranormal Activity." Shot over seven days' time in his own home, writer-director Oren Peli has made quite the splash with his $11,000 calling card, a tight little thriller with a deceptively simple premise. Katie and Micah believe their home to be haunted - or, more accurately, that Katie might be attracting something supernatural - so Micah buys a camera to film what happens, the results of which make up "Paranormal Activity." No opening credits, no end credits; just an ominous title card thanking the families of Katie and Micah along with the San Diego Police Department.
Peli endears our central duo to us with sundry scenes of domestic coupledom, and though he takes a slight risk by making the constantly documenting Micah rather unlikable in what seems like his insensitivity to Katie's escalating fears, it serves to keep camera rolling on the (nearly) bloodless terror. And most importantly, Peli understands that what you can't see is far scarier (also: cheaper) than just about anything made tangible. So does "Paranormal Activity" live up to its viral hype? For me it totally did. As the lights came up and the obviously spooked audience continued to stare at a whole screen full of nothing, I realized I could feel every bit of my skin.
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