Do I love horror films? Of course I do. Do I see many horror films that I love? Not so much nowadays. I’ve mentioned time and time again that I tire of director’s whose idea of a horror film is to give audiences the bloodiest and most realistic deaths imaginable. And while I can appreciate the talent effects-wise that go into many of these films, they are not scary. It’s nothing more than torture porn, and its only redeeming quality is that it is not real. It’s not very entertaining, unless you have some mind of goofy bloodlust (in which case you are NOT invited over for holiday dinners). What I like in my horror movies is to be scared. Made to jump. Maybe even make me nervous walking around my own house. It’s all about tone and the right kind of visuals. I hearken back to films like “The Uninvited” with Ray Milland, which relied more on sound and the buildup of tension.

There was very little ‘ghost’ to see, and it made the film all the scarier. Heck, even the opening sequence of the remake for “Dawn of the Dead” with the little girl in the house gave me nightmares for months. (Even now, my 6 year old daughter climbs into our bed in the middle of the night… and every time the door opens and I hear her footsteps… my heart skips a beat.)

But again, I still prefer what you don’t see. I’ve lived in a couple of houses that I believe were haunted. I won’t get into a lot of details on that here, but the fact that I could never see what caused lights to turn on and off or doors to open and close, was much more frightening than if I could see what was doing it. I still have strong memories from another (non-haunted) house I lived in alone of a night where I opened my eyes in the middle of the night just in time to see my bedroom door slam shut. I jumped out of bed (after over an hour of cowering and listening) to find that I had propped a unicycle behind the door that decided to fall down and push the door shut. Did it matter that I could explain what happened? Nope… I had to sleep with the lights on for weeks after that.

This brings me to “Paranormal Activity”, the newest ‘flavor of the month’ horror film, now out on DVD and Bluray. I had heard quite a bit about “Paranormal Activity” as it was all the buzz of various film festivals and indie theatres. Like “The Blair Witch Project” from years ago, this movie was made on a shoestring budget by a new filmmaker and made to look like a home movie. The story, as it were, revolves around a young couple who notice some odd occurrences around their home. They opt to start setting up a camera to capture their surroundings while they sleep. To their horror, they catch all sorts of doors opening, various sounds, and other things that one would rather not think is going on while ‘safely’ asleep in bed. The entire film is made up of what their camera captures, during the day and night.

So throughout the film, we see Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) as they go about their day, discussing what is happening as well as the spooky goings on while they sleep. As these occurrences seem to grow in intensity, they opt to consult a psychic, who offers little more than an explanation that this ‘dark force’ has been following Katie all her life. He was also able to warn them that it was incredibly dangerous, but there wasn’t anything he could do. This little cowardly lion literally runs out on them. The film, like the occurrences, builds in intensity all the way through until its somewhat satisfying resolution.

The single camera mode that was used here, as well as the very naturalistic acting by the stars, makes for a fairly believable and frightening experience. I cannot fully imagine what it was like to watch it in the relative safety of a full theater, but I can tell you sitting in a dark living room late at night… my wife and I jumped more than once. Start to finish, watching “Paranormal Activity” was very satisfying and frightening. The few effects that the filmmaker used worked VERY well, mostly in terms of sound (which on a good surround system really creeped us out). But even the sparse visuals were extremely well executed.

As a matter of fact the only thing I didn’t like about the movie was some of the frustrating actions of the characters. As the events play out on their camera, there came a point that I would not have been able to sleep. And certainly not with the lights out. I would have called every psychic person in the phone book and had them camp out at the house until someone could figure out how to get rid of the entity. Micah was the one intent on not calling anyone else in and he was a complete idiot. I mean, come on… a fiery Ouija Board??? I could not at all understand his hesitancy to call for help. Still, it was these actions that helped to elicit emotion, albeit frustration.

Paramount’s Bluray for the film offers the theatrical and unrated versions of the film as well as a digital download and alternate ending. But for a 2-disc set… that’s all you get. I was very disappointed not to have any extra features. Since the film worked so well on so many levels, I would have loved a commentary and behind the scenes features on how they accomplished some of the more interesting visuals. I’m expecting a fuller release later on, but rather than double dip, I would have preferred all the extras on this go round.

Directed by: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong
Extras: Theatrical Version; Unrated Version with Alternate Ending; Digital Copy
Specification: 1080p; DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 12/29/2009
MPAA Rating: R & NR
http://www.paramount.com/homeentertainment

We'll give Paranormal Activity (Bluray) a B.