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October 28, 2009

'Paranormal Activity' recalls 'Blair Witch' in style

By STEVE OUELLETTE, Movie Review

The most popular movie in America was filmed in a week for less than $15,000?

That's got to be terrifying for the makers of $50-million-and-up horror schlock.

Extreme low-budget flick "Paranormal Activity" turned that rather laudable and shocking box office trick this past weekend, slaying all competition with barely a splatter of blood and a special-effects budget of, well, nil.

It's an impressive feat of marketing, since the film itself is only slightly above average, as far as fright fests go.

"Paranormal Activity" feels a lot like "The Blair Witch Project" did a decade ago. First-time writer-director Oren Peli uses a hand-held camera, unknown actors and scary things that are largely unseen. This time, however, instead of a creepy forest, the action all takes place in a claustrophobic suburban house.

Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) are a young unmarried couple on opposite ends of the paranormal spectrum. She's a believer, having had brushes with the supernatural from a young age. He's a skeptic who only begins to believe when things start to happen in their own home. An object moves. Something goes thump in the night. A door opens and closes.

Katie is scared, but Micah is curious and begins to film everything, including themselves while they sleep. Bit by bit, the camera begins to tell a story.

The film is actually a pretty slick example in the art of moviemaking and will no doubt earn Peli a much bigger budget next time around. Creaking doors, banging walls and flickering lights combine to create an ever-building sense of dread.

"Paranormal Activity" has its limits, however. It's interesting, and it's more effective than the average slasher movie, but it's not really all that scary. Nothing jolted me for at least the first 45 minutes, and even the final payoff isn't that great. It's just not as frightening as "Blair Witch" was the first time around.

It's solid moviemaking — that cost less than a Hyundai — and fairly creepy, but it's no classic, and it's not nearly worth the hype. But if the Halloween choice is between "Paranormal Activity" and "Saw VI," low budget is the way to go.

Rental Recommendation: Last year's "Quarantine" was scarier. Grade: B.

E-mail Steve Ouellette at: ouellette1918@gmail.com

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