Paranormal Activity

I was skeptical about the hype that built so quickly around this little film. I saw the preview a few weeks before it became a big "Demand It" option, and thought it looked genuinley creepy. I am happy to report the hype is not making this film into something it isn't-It may only work the first time, but this film is the first one to genuinely scare me in a long time. It is shot as a couple trying to catch whatever it is that haunts their house, there are no credits no nothing that suggests this is anything but actual footage, the first big hurdle with this film is to create the perfect, believable atmosphere, and it suceeds at this by only letting us see what Micah catches on his camera. We don't get any different angles, no cuts, no music-it is raw and real-it builds at a pace that will have the audience questioning whether this is the movie they have heard is "so scary", and right when you begin to doubt the hype around how scary it is, it lures you in. You are given the opportunity to get to know these people, you relate to their personalities and really put yourself in their shoes. As the movie moves from very subtle effects that create plenty of chiils to the bigger stuff that starts the audience screaming out loud, I couldn't help but smile in knowing that they were getting it, the filmmakers had crafted this low-budget film that truly tapped into what would make the audience jump and scream out loud-what would cause them to get chills everytime it went to that wide shot of the bedroom and what would just stress me out to the point of hardly being able to watch but not wanting to take my eyes away from the screen. It is a movie-going experience that you can only get once, and going to a midnight screening where everyone is there because they are dedicated and eager to see the film probably only made the film that much easier to get into a love every tense minute of it. If you, in any way, enjoy a good scare and have been waiting on a genuine scary movie for some time, 'Paranormal Activity' is the one to deliver. As I write this an hour after getting out of the theater, I am still getting chills just thinking about that final shot.