Paranormal Activity

Went to the cinema to see Paranormal Activity, something of a smash hit indie film which cost $150,000 and has grossed well over $100,000,000. After The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, this is probably the last chance to make a film that revolves around cheap footage from a hand-held camera within the action without it just coming over as a cynical way to cut production costs.

The film itself was moderately good, but certainly not worth seeing twice. The protracted set-up does an excellent job of establishing its two main characters: the girl is ordinary, natural and sympathetic, while the guy develops very well over the course of the film – at first, he is a likeable, slightly spoilt class clown-type, but gradually reveals his insecure, controlling, overly proud side under pressure, and the film works because we actually do care about these two. As a horror film, however, it is pretty dull. It focuses on bumps in the night and suspense, promising ever-greater thrills, but then just as it finally gets interesting with a big jump moment, it ends. It’s a whole feature film of exposition, leading to one jump and an annoying blank screen no-one else seemed to want to leave during.

My final impression was that it was like the first ten minutes of The Exorcist spun out over ninety, with just about none of the promised visceral action. The Exorcist may be dated and nowhere near as scary as its reputation makes out, but it will certainly endure much better than the ultimately wholly unsatisfying Paranormal Activity.