Media Consumes Me

I’ll be honest.

I didn’t write this article sooner because, quite frankly, the thought of doing so was too frightening. In fact, the thought of giving too much of my thought to Paranormal Activity is still cause for hesitation. Not because it was a bad movie – quite the opposite, in fact. The documentary-style film sets out to do one thing – scare the living daylights out of you – and does it extraordinarily well.

This is the movie that’s expected to be this year’s great success story. Shot with a budget of just $11,000, Paranormal Activity is not your typical suspense/horror film. There is no blood. There is no gore at all. You won’t find spinning beds or even girls coming out of televisions. What you will find, however, is a quality film.

Another name for this movie could have been 2 Actors, One Camera (ed- ok, I did it. I made the “2 Girls, One Cup” reference. So sue me. Every writer here has skirted the topic, playfully interjecting it into their articles only to remove it out of fear of “going too far.” Begone, foul apprehension!), because that’s exactly what you get. No more, no less. The most you see of the world outside of this haunted couple’s house is the driveway, revealed in the first 5 minutes, and the backyard about halfway through the movie. From the time you first meet Micah, be prepared for claustrophobia to set in.

And that’s really what this film is about: the growing tension between a couple feeling trapped in their own home manifested in the form of a demon. From Micah’s inability to take the plight of his girlfriend seriously to his insistence on making contact with the demon that is haunting her, his fate (one any man in at least a semi-serious relationship can relate to on some level) is spelled out for him from the beginning of the film.

But I digress. You’re not here to read about the story within the story. You’re here (most likely) to find out if this movie is really worth all the hype. And I’m here to tell you, most definitely, yes.

Horror-suspense films traditionally follow a pretty similar formula. Build the tension, then break the tension with a joke, then – while the audience is still laughing – scare the bejesus out of them. The “false start.” Paranormal Activity simultaneously has nothing but false starts and has no false starts. I know, that makes no sense.

The story is told from the perspective of Micah’s new, more-than-is-needed camera (who quickly becomes a character in its own right). You have your daytime footage, where the story between Micah and Katie unfolds. You will quickly come to call these scenes your “happy place.” As long as Micah is in control of the camera, you feel safe.

But once Micah puts that damn thing on a tripod, you’re looking for the exit. The story that plays out at night (get used to the view in the above image, because it makes up roughly 45% of the movie, and the scariest collective hour of your life to date), while the cast is sleeping, exists purely within the mind of the viewer. Did you hear that whisper? That door did not just close. Is that a shadow in the doorway? Oh shit, there are footprints. Bodies should not move like that! Why the hell is she just staring at him? If she looks at the camera right now, I will piss my pants. I’m just going to look at the clock in the bottom right corner because I don’t want to see what comes up the stairs. These are just some of the things you say to yourself during the night time shots. Some of the things overheard in the packed theatre I saw it in were “Oh no you don’t, Tamika (the woman in front of me’s name for Micah), don’t open that damn door!” “Oh, hell no. HELL NO!” and “Why did I do this to myself?” I overheard one person say on the way out, “I think I’m going to be sick.” And remember: there is absolutely not one drop of gore in this movie.

This film is worth every cent of the price of admission. Even more if you see it in a packed theater, just for the audience reactions alone. This is how suspense should be. And it should act as a source of inspiration and case study to every student film maker out there; an example of what can be done with next to no money when you put storytelling first. It will leave you spooked. It will make you afraid to go down the stairs. And, if you’re like me, it will make you afraid to cross your girlfriend.