Hype is the worst thing in the world. I HATE hype. Why do people hype shit up? Things never live up to what people build it up to be. Whether it's a movie, an album or your wedding day, we love to build, build, build only to be disappointed and nitpick to death. Such is the case with "Paranormal Activity". The movie originally made the rounds in 2007 at various film festivals until Steven Speilberg saw it. He claimed the film caused him to experience paranormal phenomena of his own and thus picked up the film to distribute through Dreamworks. A slick ass marketing campaign followed, building this movie as not just a film but an "experience" and drew comparisons to "Blair Witch Project" due to its bare-bones presentation and based-on-reality premise. It was proclaimed the scariest movie in years, of all-time, you name it. Well I finally got my mitts on the original 2007 cut, since no theaters around me are showing it. Honestly, it was better than I expected but not without flaws.
Right off the bat, to all the goonies out there who believe this shit really happened and this really is found footage, go jump off a bridge. The same idiots who thought the Blair Witch Project really happened are being suckered by this movie, even though it inexplicably states in press materials and reviews and otherwise this is a FICTIONAL film. But in a world where people still believe pro wrestling is real, you're bound to have some people holding out. But yes, this movie is fictional and I feel like an idiot for having to explain that.
The acting. Well, the girl Katie was pretty good. She was easy on the eyes, conveyed her fear pretty realistically and I bought what she was going through. The broad has been pursued by this demonic presence since she was eight years old, and throughout the film, she is slowly pushed to her breaking point. Kudos to her. The dude, Micah (pronounced "Meek-ah") is a grade A douche. I could not STAND this guy. From his weak attempts at being both funny and tough, he was an absolute tool. Plus, who the fuck is named "MEEKAH"? With a name like that, you might as well be born with an Affliction shirt on and tendency to like Jagerbombs.
As far as the movies main intention, which is to SCARE YOU, it's hit and miss. On one hand, it's trying to be presented as "real", and there are some things that you are like "Whoa, shit I could see that happen". But the double edged sword is that because its presented as "real", some of the more implausible things that happen just make it feel really hokey. Then again if these same scares were used in a horror film already being presented as "fake", they would be totally useless and cliche. Typical loud noises, jump scares, etc. The only time I was caught off guard was one of the initial scares where there was this sudden loud BOOM. Made me jump but thats it. Some of the shit was comical, i.e., the Ouija board catching on fire and Katie being dragged down the hall way while Micah tries to tough talk the spirit. Moments like that really took me out of the movie and made me laugh at it. However, the movie does have some creepy elements so it's not a total bust.
My next agenda: I absolutely loved the ending, and don't know why it was changed for theaters. It was more realistic and suited the tone of the movie better. Katie becoming possessed and killing Micah made more sense, because it could realistically happen. All the sleep depravation and being cooped in the house, coupled with some of the frightening things, I could believe it, her being drove to kill him. But the theater ending, which is described as her developing demonic strength and feasting on Micah's flesh, just pushes the envelope for me. In a movie that is being played off as "actual events" I prefer the original ending, not the Spielberg redo.
Overall, a decent flick. Better than "Blair Witch" in the category of over-hyped-pretend-to-be-real movies. Not gonna give you nightmares, it's not the "scariest movie ever" and good Lord I can't wait to see how they mangle the already-greenlit sequel. Worth wasting your time on, that's for sure.
FINAL SCORE: 2.5 out of 4
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