When There IS This Kind Of Paranormal Activity Get OUT

Scary movies are a staple of Hollywood come this time of year, seldom do we get one that leaves the viewer on the edge of his seat. When a movie like "Paranormal Activity" comes along I for one wonder just what the heck I'm in store for. Then when the news that writer Oren Peli also directed the film, and that the budget was about ELEVEN THOUSAND dollars, I am already scared. Then the fact that the films two major stars are newcomers to motion pictures and also that the movie was filmed in the home owned by Oren Peli, well I had no hope for this movie. I am glad to say that after watching this film, one where I was glued to my seat, what little I was actually sitting on, yes this is an edge of your seat horror flick. The beginning starts out slow and that is of course the development stage of the film, but it picks up its pace rather quickly. I can't reiterate how much I really appreciate a film like this. Hollywood take stock, a true horror movie made for less than you pay to advertise a piece of crap like Jennifer's Body.

A young, middle class couple, Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston) become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic, Katie has been plagued by this ever since she was a child. She has bad memories of this thing following her from home to home. Now that she and Micah have moved in together things start to happen. Noises in the middle of the night, thumps, scratching and even whispers bring the couple to the the same conclusion. They want to try to see if there is actually something going on in their home. Micah buys a camera and they set it up in their bedroom, the noises seem to be the worst during the night.

Several nights go by and nothing happens, when Micah tries to make the experiment into a joke, Katie gets upset, things actually start to happen one night, I won't reveal any of the events, but I for one was glad that the director didn't throw ghosts and demons at us at every turn, the thrills build into a quiet crescendo, and the scares will come but they are not rushed and that slow pace helps build the terror. Each night as we watch the couple sleep, we wait, we hold our breath, we scream at the littlest creak and when things do happen we jump right off our seats. The movie has a level of suspense so intense that the smallest sound makes your heart jump. We are forced to constantly think about what we just witnessed, watching an almost empty room in dead silence for 30 seconds turns out to be one of the most horrifying scenes in the entire film.

Katie gets increasingly jittery and frightened. Neither is sleeping well, and they start snapping at each other, she tells Micah she wants to hire a Psychic (Michael Bayouth) he at first thinks he is a fraud, maybe he is but we buy his act when he returns at a later date and tells the couple that he must leave the house, that the energy he feels is malevolent in nature. When the demon starts to manifest itself the couple find things getting out of hand, The ending is true Hollywood horror, their is a rumor that Steven Spielberg helped this movie find life, that he saw it and along with Oren Peli created a brand new ending. I for one am glad, cause the ending is what most everyone will be talking about.

I Give Paranormal Activity a 4 and on my avoidance scale a hearty 0 go see this movie, watch as night after night the scares build and the terror mounts. Now that Hollywood has a true horror gem, there is talk already of a remake, one with bigger special effects, a bigger budget and better known stars. STOP. This movie, AS IS is one of the best movies to open this year, it was slated to be screened later this month at the International Film Festival, but pulled when a midnight screening brought out literally hundreds of horror fans to watch this movie. It was given a release date but shown only at a few midnight screenings last weekend, the movie did rather well. Today news comes that the movie will get a small release window, I can't recommend enough that every fan of horror go out and support this soon to be cult favorite.

Paranormal Activity is rated R for Language

Running time is 1 hr. 39 mins.