The "found footage" style of horror film has become its own subgenre at this point, beginning with the breakout indie flick The Blair Witch Project, which remains one of the more frightening entries in the pool.  Add to that a powerhouse like [REC], or even a more modest film like Sean Tretta's Death of a Ghost Hunter, and you see that these films can be done with relatively little money and still pack a punch.

Now comes Paranormal Activity, a film written and directed by first-timer Oren Peli.  The film was originally screened at several festivals, including 2007's Screamfest, but couldn't get widespread distribution.  DreamWorks picked up the movie, with the intent to remake it, but gave up on the idea when several audience members left screenings of the original film, citing fear as their motivation to hit the abort button.  Thus, the film was given a limited release and is now available in wider markets today.  

At its heart, Paranormal Activity is a simple ghost story.  Live-in lovers Micah and Katie have decided to set up cameras to try to capture the knocks and bangs they are experiencing in their California home, a phenomenon that has followed Katie from the age of eight until the present.  The activity, it seems, comes and goes, with long periods of dormancy, but Micah seizes upon the new cycle of spooky sounds to try to prove its existence.  When a psychic arrives to offer advice, he warns that the entity present in their home may be a demon, rather than a disembodied human spirit, and suggests that, no matter where Katie goes to escape, the entity will follow her.

to try to prove its existence.  When a psychic arrives to offer advice, he warns that the entity present in their home may be a demon, rather than a disembodied human spirit, and suggests that, no matter where Katie goes to escape, the entity will follow her.

Micah takes an understandable approach to the situation - he gets excited by the phenomenon, following Katie through their home with a camera and setting it up to record their bedroom while they sleep.  He is determined to solve Katie's little ghost problem and have an adventure along the way.  It's quickly apparent that something is happening in the house, as the camera captures the bedroom door swinging slowly closed, then open, all while the couple sleep.  While Katie is naturally freaked, Micah begins suggesting more radical means to provoke activity, including electronic recordings and the time-honored bad idea, the Ouija board.  

As the activity escalates and the mood in the house shifts from curiosity to discomfort to outright fear, the film continues to roll, showing the audience things the characters know only in retrospect.  The film works best at these times, when the camera stands watch over the bed and the bedroom door, peeking into the hallway beyond.  There are some real chills involving noises and movement surrounding the sleeping couple, as they lie helpless and unconscious in their bed.

discomfort to outright fear, the film continues to roll, showing the audience things the characters know only in retrospect.  The film works best at these times, when the camera stands watch over the bed and the bedroom door, peeking into the hallway beyond.  There are some real chills involving noises and movement surrounding the sleeping couple, as they lie helpless and unconscious in their bed.

Unfortunately, the film is an uneven mixture, too often focusing on the couple's deteriorating relationship in the face of the unknown and malevolent presence.  The relationship isn't always believable, no fault to actors Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, who do an admirable job of creating the illusion of reality.  I just didn't care for their dynamic as a couple and when the bickering starts, I found myself - dare I say it? - bored by the goings-on.  There's even a bit of tedium in the gags, as the audience grows to understand that each time the couple sleeps and the camera is rolling, and let's not forget the low bass tone's appearance, something is going to happen.

That's not to say Paranormal Activity is not an effective film.  There is a reptilian-brain response to seeing human beings at their most vulnerable, stalked by an unseen presence, and there are some truly great moments in those scenes, but, by the end, I got a sense of repetition that drained some of the tension.  And the ending... well, let's just say that alternate endings of this film exist, and I believe I would have preferred those to the one that concludes the wide-release print, even if it was the one suggested by Spielberg.  

That's not to say Paranormal Activity is not an effective film.  There is a reptilian-brain response to seeing human beings at their most vulnerable, stalked by an unseen presence, and there are some truly great moments in those scenes, but, by the end, I got a sense of repetition that drained some of the tension.  And the ending... well, let's just say that alternate endings of this film exist, and I believe I would have preferred those to the one that concludes the wide-release print, even if it was the one suggested by Spielberg.  

Still, Paranormal Activity is a competent, if not revolutionary, entry into both the haunted house and found footage arenas, one that is likely to scare the bejeezus out of some with its basic conceit, but there are better examples of each type of film... might I suggest [REC] and The Legend of Hell House?