Word-of-mouth around this film also had plenty of cautionary words. Don't watch it past midnight if you are prone to being too scared, some said it's even scarier when viewed at home, if you are alone you won't make it alive (making this last one up). I invited a friend to watch it with me but he said he was busy (I believed him), my brother and his friend wanted to watch it at their residence so didn't come and it was just up to Revathi & me to survive. Even before the film started my mind was ready to be scared. I started the film at eleven in the night after my wife and I had a physically (different physical activities mind you) & mentally exhausting day, this was deliberate as I wanted to view it when we were a touch tired and the mind not fully alert to get maximum mileage from my BD rental.
Roger Ebert often recalls instances of meeting other critics before or after screenings who tell him they have watched the film a few times already and will watch it a few more times. He says it is this kind of word-of-mouth publicity that studios can't buy. That's been the kind of buzz around this film. The horror genre has gone for a toss post 'The Sixth Sense'. This outstanding film led to some decent imitations which later transformed to crap (disgusting 'Saw' films, brainless 'Final Destination' films, Freddy & Jason films, etc.). Horror films targeted pre-teens and teens with gore and sleaze. It became rare for an adult to come out of a horror film, identify with the fear and recommend it to other adults. The word-of-mouth around 'Paranormal Activity' seemed to be not from pre-teens or teens, not even people way senior, it seemed to be from people in their in their twenties and early thirties, my age group. PA has been compared to 'The Blair Witch Project', which I loved when I was nineteen and must watch again soon, but the fact that it has slightly older protagonists in a mature relationship makes it easier for me to identify with the story. In the TBWP a group goes out looking to be spooked, in PA the duo of Katie & Micah are haunted in their home, the place we perceive we are most safe.
Let's see what I can write about the film.
- Different kind of scared this time: Take any horror movie and you will see that the screenplay is divided into portions where you will be scared and portions which develop the plot. For example, in 'The Sixth Sense' you know when the kid will see dead people, the fear factor is spaced out. There are scenes of calm dialogue, scenes in day light, scenes where the plot has to be developed where these dead people won't make an appearance. Your heart race at the places where you should be scared, you even know when that will be and it will come pretty soon, in a matter of seconds even. In PA it's different. Roger Ebert says nothing happens most of the time in this film and I agree with him. The things that happen are small (doors opening and slamming shut, swaying chandeliers, Ouija board catching fire, lights turning on and off, footprints of unseen people, etc. all nothing new or huge in any sense which many are going to argue against the film) except till the very end. The wait is agonising. Almost the entire film my heart was beating very very fast waiting for something to happen. It's this anticipation that has been described as 'gut-wrenching' by many critics. You wait wait wait and your heart beats faster faster faster because you are waiting longer longer longer than you have in any other horror film. This is the most special aspect of this movie.
- Katie Featherston is an outstanding actress. Ebert says she is not Meryl Streep which I'd like to disagree, she is just as good as Ms. Streep would have been here because the role doesn't demand more than what Katie brings to it. If my wife were in her place I can imagine Revathi mouthing the exact same lines as Katie was. Of course this is also a pat-on-the-back for the dialogues. There has been no talk of an Oscar nomination for her, I am surprised and sorry for her.
- Micah Sloat is effective from a guy's perspective. He is not seen much because he is supposed to be behind the camera. Most guys would probably have the same attitude towards the haunting, not me mind you because I was very scared. The lines he speaks, the way he delicately places the camera even in times of urgency are all what I believe most guys would do.
- Did I really see shapes change in the film? When the couple are sleeping I was observing the entire frame. Of course the lighting is very dim and it's demon time (expected) so I kept looking outside the door into the dark corridor where I felt I could see objects change shapes. Did this really happen? Maybe it was intended by the director, small chance of this, so mostly it was a figment of my imagination. The movie had got into my head. This is a positive for the film.
- The first forty-five minutes are exceptional. That's when nothing too much happens in the film. In fact, the first night only keys fall off in the kitchen and we have been waiting for something to happen. Some other nights too the events are almost negligible and the wait is long. After a while some events (Ouija board, photograph in the attic) are like those in the horror cinema mould. In fact, at this point of time I felt the demon is nothing much. I was rooting for Micah & not with Katie, I wanted to discover its secret now. It was only after the psychic returns to say he can't help and Katie tricks Micah into not leaving does the movie take off again. I am willing to overlook this small flaw.
- Oren Peli. 2009 for me will be not be about 'Avatar' or the other studio films. It will be about comeback veteran Kathryn Bigelow, first time film-makers Neil Blomkamp and Oren Peli. This is a terrific first film for the video game animation worker from Israel. Peli inspires me to take my camera out and shoot a movie this summer, submit it at the Sundance Film Festival and Steven Spielberg could be at my residence with Paramount Pictures.
- The camera is convincingly handled. Roger Ebert says that there are a few shots in the film where it seems like a third person is involved in the shooting but I couldn't find any scene where it seemed like the girl or the guy were not filming. Oren and his small crew have taken great care with their first baby.
- The BD comes with an alternate ending to the film which Revathi and I concluded we were too scared to watch. I sincerely read the synopsis of the alternate ending on IMDB the next morning.
Five months after I watched 'Dictrict 9' and couldn't get it out of my head I backed it for an Oscar nomination. I watched 'Paranormal Activity' two nights ago and am sorry it was not nominated for best picture. There are people I know who avoid horror films (me for example) thanks to the "mutilation" (pun intended) of the genre by movies like 'Saw' & the Freddy and Jason films. Here is a film for precisely such people.
Rating; 5/5
P.S. I finished the film at half-past midnight & felt no shame to call my brother to spend the night at my residence. Revathi discretely kept a photo of Godess Durga under her pillow before making it clear that this would be our last horror film.
