Up until 2009, the most famous found-footage horror movie was The Blair Witch Project back in the summer of 1999. One could argue that was the foundational aspect of what made the found-footage genre what it’s known as today. However, there was a large gap in between the release of The Blair Witch Project and the first Paranormal Activity, and aside from Cloverfield, the genre wasn’t really in to high gear as one might assume. That is until the release of Paranormal Activity, a movie that is so tiny and small, that manages to become more sadistic and gripping than anyone had originally intended. Paranormal Activity works, not just in the realm of a found-footage movie, but being a genuinely effective horror movie, that had the charm and the simplistic nature of scaring audiences around the globe.
Soon after moving into a suburban tract home, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become increasingly disturbed by what appears to be a supernatural presence. Hoping to capture evidence of it on film, they set up video cameras in the house but are not prepared for the terrifying events that follow.
The horror genre is a treasure genre, for good reasons. It could be considered the most versatile of the genres, and rightfully so, because horror comes in all shapes and sizes. Zombies, witches, demonic activity, monsters or psychological are all prime examples of what a horror movie can be. It’s no surprise that post Paranormal Activity caused a wave of cheap and generic found-footage movies that A) never captured the magic that first Paranormal Activity movie had to offer or B) studios only tried to recapitalize what that first movie did instead of actually taking it serious and making something compelling or even remotely enjoyable. The criticisms for the found-footage genre are respected immensely, nevertheless, Paranormal Activity worked in effecting people in the confinements of the master bedroom, something that most horror movies hadn’t done that often, or maybe ever.
You’ve only got two characters to really care about and get invested in, with Katie and Micah. So, that alone makes things easy to follow because for movie that barely 90 minutes, they’re the primary focus point of this whole movie, and you start to learn more about their relationship and it progressively gets rockier and rockier once the demonic activity starts to escalate and become more violent and aggressive with each encounter. While the performances from each actor are great, the most surprising aspect about the two of them is that it’s an extremely heartbreaking and profound relationship. Without getting into spoiler territory, but the upheavals this Katie and Micah go through as a couple in this movie was really impressive, just to see a story depicting a relationship that’s dealing with trauma that one can’t explain. It manages to serve as a solid commentary on a young couple that is dealing with an issue that’s virtually almost unexplainable, and it that sense, Paranormal Activity truly works on that level.
Like The Blair Witch Project, nothing really happens until the very end of the movie when the horror starts to kick in full gear and you leave the theater petrified and scarred. The beauty of Paranormal Activity is that it slowly but beautifully builds up the horror with the simple trick of the door moving on its own to someone being dragged in the hall, ultimately making the climax of the movie staggering and ambitious. Paranormal Activity doesn’t get a lot of credit for being a great horror movie because, like Blair Witch, it doesn’t show you the demon. It’s all left to the audiences imagination on what the “monster’ might look like, and the execution of all that in Paranormal Activity works exceptionally well. Paranormal Activity delivers on some truly horrific and frightening moments, that will definitely make one’s stomach drop or the back of their hair stand up. Every time we’re spent in the bed room is really where the horror shines and every night the horror gets scarier and scarier, that makes the finale spine-tingling.
Like any found-footage movie, they always overstay their welcome because while they’re all short, they sometimes feel longer than what they actually are. And no disrespect to Paranormal Activity, but the format that it’s being told in makes it feel more stretched out and maybe making things more boring. However, when looking back at the first Paranormal Activity, taking into to consideration that it is a found-footage movie, it never misses a beat on how it’s story is being told. It’s paced out well, and even though it is a slow, it pulls off and expertly crafted ending that won’t disappoint.
Paranormal Activity had a budget of $15,000 and made over $193 million at the box-office. Now, that’s a success, but for a movie that’s 11 years old, it’s talked about as much because we look at the first Paranormal Activity for being the reason why Hollywood made so many terrible found-footage horror movies. Granted, the terrible found-footage movies might outweigh all the good ones that we have gotten in the past 10 years. But the first Paranormal Activity, I still contend, is one of the most effective horror movies of the century, that perfectly demonstrates the art of effectively scaring someone in one of the most comfortable places all humans can agree on: the bedroom. It knows how to get under your skin, it doesn’t diverge the story or the characters to something that’s completely unnecessary. Paranormal Activity might be one of the forgotten gems in the horror movie genre, and it may have soured more people with the future installments that we have now, but I implore more people to give it that second viewing.
My grade for Paranormal Activity: A
Zane's take at the Cinema's 