Remember when the television spots for "Paranormal Activity" aired last fall? They featured crowds of terrified theater-goers cringing and screaming while watching the film, yet remained somewhat vague about what the movie was actually about. Basically, the message was that "Paranormal Activity" is scary, very scary, one of the scariest movies you'll ever see. So when it came out on video, we had a few friends over and sat down to watch it, preparing ourselves to be appropriately terrified. The film follows Katie and Micah, a young couple who share a lovely home. Oh wait, and Katie forgot to mention that there's this demon spirit that's been haunting her since she was a child and it starts terrorizing them every night. (But hey, Micah probably leaves the toilet seat up, so we'll call it even.) Micah decides he's going to pull out his video camera and start documenting the spooky happenings, and thus the film enters the "fake amateur video footage" genre. This means what you see is what you get. Unfortunately, what you get is not much. Instead of a haunting score, the audience is treated to nondescript noises coming from the other room. (So scary!) Instead of creepy special effects, we get to watch Micah pour baby powder on the floor and then see the invisible demon leave footprints in it. (I'm shaking!) Instead of spooky lighting, we're limited to the view provided by the camcorder's night vision. (Oh, the horror!) Don't get me wrong, nothing against low-budget films, but when it comes to horror movies, the do-it-yourself approach can sometimes lead to pretty weak-sauce thrills. During the day when they aren't being haunted, Katie and Micah get in arguments about whether Micah should buy a Ouija board or whether Katie should call a demonologist. The results? He buys the Ouija board and she doesn't call the demonologist. And herein lies the problem with trying to make a "realistic" horror movie: Inevitably, the characters will still use unrealistic horror movie logic. Because despite the fact that the unknown dark entity in Katie and Micah's home is getting more aggressive every night, they just want to handle it themselves and hope it goes away. Guess what? That never works. In the end, I guess I didn't really have the same terrifying experience as those people in the trailer. Was "Paranormal Activity" scary? Sure. Was it one of the scariest movies I've ever seen? No, not even close.
Friday, February 12, 2010
1 cheap camcorder + 4 community college drama students + 1 Ouija board = "Paranormal Activity"
Remember when the television spots for "Paranormal Activity" aired last fall? They featured crowds of terrified theater-goers cringing and screaming while watching the film, yet remained somewhat vague about what the movie was actually about. Basically, the message was that "Paranormal Activity" is scary, very scary, one of the scariest movies you'll ever see. So when it came out on video, we had a few friends over and sat down to watch it, preparing ourselves to be appropriately terrified. The film follows Katie and Micah, a young couple who share a lovely home. Oh wait, and Katie forgot to mention that there's this demon spirit that's been haunting her since she was a child and it starts terrorizing them every night. (But hey, Micah probably leaves the toilet seat up, so we'll call it even.) Micah decides he's going to pull out his video camera and start documenting the spooky happenings, and thus the film enters the "fake amateur video footage" genre. This means what you see is what you get. Unfortunately, what you get is not much. Instead of a haunting score, the audience is treated to nondescript noises coming from the other room. (So scary!) Instead of creepy special effects, we get to watch Micah pour baby powder on the floor and then see the invisible demon leave footprints in it. (I'm shaking!) Instead of spooky lighting, we're limited to the view provided by the camcorder's night vision. (Oh, the horror!) Don't get me wrong, nothing against low-budget films, but when it comes to horror movies, the do-it-yourself approach can sometimes lead to pretty weak-sauce thrills. During the day when they aren't being haunted, Katie and Micah get in arguments about whether Micah should buy a Ouija board or whether Katie should call a demonologist. The results? He buys the Ouija board and she doesn't call the demonologist. And herein lies the problem with trying to make a "realistic" horror movie: Inevitably, the characters will still use unrealistic horror movie logic. Because despite the fact that the unknown dark entity in Katie and Micah's home is getting more aggressive every night, they just want to handle it themselves and hope it goes away. Guess what? That never works. In the end, I guess I didn't really have the same terrifying experience as those people in the trailer. Was "Paranormal Activity" scary? Sure. Was it one of the scariest movies I've ever seen? No, not even close.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi, Rachel,
ReplyDeletePam told me about your blog, so I thought I would send you the link to a blog a friend and I write to accompany a series of films we show at the U. The address is: www.retrofilmsociety.blogspot.com. It will be interesting to share thoughts on movies.
John Sanders