The US release of Paranormal Activity, the debut film of Israel-born director Oren Peli, is accompanied by a ghost story that will launch the film out of oblivion and into cult film status. Filmed in the home movie style of Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, the movie features a woman (Katie Featherston) whose husband (Micah Sloat) attempts to put her night-time fears at rest by installing video cameras to disprove the existence of a paranormal presence in the house only to find that his wife wasn’t dreaming.
For such a low-budget film, it’s a decent plot that’s well suited for a directing style meant to convince the viewer that it is real life footage. Even the trailer shows the audience’s reaction to the movie rather than an over-edited narration of the film. But is the reality more than good direction? Rumor has it that after hearing the huge buzz of the 2006 original, director Steven Spielberg took a copy of the DVD home to see the film for himself and while viewing it, his bedroom door locked itself from the inside, and needed a locksmith to open it. The experience supposedly jarred him so much that he returned the DVD to the studio in a garbage bag. It might not even be a true story, but for a film thought to be “laughably fake”, one wonders why audiences have been reported to walk out of test screenings claiming it was too scary to finish.
Can a low-budget film contain such raw emotion and horror that it is too scary for some viewers? Or is there truly some paranormal activity somehow embedded in the film? There’s only one way to find out. Paranormal Activity will be released for a limited screening this Friday. Not showing in your area? Vote for the “first ever” voter-determined film release here. Check out the trailer below:
Update: Check out our review of Paranormal Activity here.