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MOVIES & MORE: 'Paranormal Activity' doesn't disappoint ... until the end

November 12, 2009 @ 12:00 AM

The Herald-Dispatch

Movies & More reviewer John Gillispie found "Paranormal Activity," rated R, to be an intriguing horror story right up until its disappointing conclusion.

As a fan of horror movies, I couldn't wait for "Paranormal Activity" to come out on DVD, so I headed to a local movie theater to check it out.

Here's a movie made for thousands of dollars that has taken in millions of dollars at the box office. Written and directed by Oren Peli, "Paranormal Activity" is a simple story. Katie (Katie Featherston) is a young woman who has been haunted by something for her entire life. Her live-in boyfriend Micah (Micah Sloat) buys a video camera in an attempt to capture on tape whatever it is that is in their home making strange noises in the middle of the night.

At first, you have to allow the movie to set things up and it is slow going. You might also have to adjust to a less-than-sharp picture.

Once the story gets going, "Paranormal Activity" builds suspense as we witness things happening while Katie and Micah sleep. At first, it's something as simple as a door moving on its own. Then, Micah sets out flour to see if whatever is making footsteps will leave footprints.

And, indeed, Katie and Micah find strange claw-like footprints that simply end in a certain spot without explanation.

Then, Micah finds a photograph of a young Katie in the attic. The photo is charred around the edges and has somehow survived a fire that destroyed Katie's home when she was younger. She has already confessed that as a child she would look on in horror at some strange creature that stood at the edge of her bed at night staring at her.

The movie includes a psychic played by Mark Fredrichs who basically tells the couple that he cannot help them, but that he can tell that something is in their home and is unhappy that he is there.

All of these things added together build suspense and make you wonder what is to come. Meanwhile, Katie becomes justifiably more scared, yet it seems to take Micah way too long to start to take everything seriously.

There are more startling scenes to come when Katie is caught on video standing by the bed for a long period of time staring at Micah, who one night finds her outside on a swing. She has no idea how she got there.

Then, something invisible to the viewer literally pulls Katie from her bed and begins to drag her down the hallway.

Fear of things we cannot explain and of unexplained noises in the night are common worries for us human beings. "Paranormal Activity" plays on the audience's emotions fairly well and builds the tension so that when the disappointing ending comes along you ask yourself: "Is this it?"

The complete silence in the theater at the ending could have signaled a chilling effect if the silence had not been followed by grumblings that people had expected something more.

John Gillispie is the public relations director for the Huntington Museum of Art. Contact the writer at jgillisp@hmoa.org.

The Associated Press

A scene from the film ÒParanormal ActivityÓ is shown.

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