Meghan showed me the trailer for Paranormal Activity a while ago – she introduced it with “this looks super scary and WE HAVE TO SEE IT.” She’s into scary shit like that, while I can terrify myself if I think about the basement too much. Given that her hermano-in-law works with me, I was eventually convinced to join the family trip to the movies to scare the living shit out of myself this past weekend.
The movie certainly was terrifying. It reminded me of the first time I saw The Blair Witch Project. It was subtle and realistic and horrifying. But it was really well done. Usually I can deal with scary movies by reminding myself how far-fetched they are, or that I can defend myself against knife-wielding strangers, or that I’ll never go on a road trip in an old car in the country at night. But movies like this, and especially ones that don’t have an overly religious tone, are really effective because of what they leave out. Paranormal Activity as a topic of interest is huge – there are TV shows about it, books about it, shit all over the internet about how people hear weird noises and have lights turned on and off in their houses without reason. This movie feeds off of all of that uncertainty and curiosity, but it never shows you what you’re scared of – you don’t see a cloaked demon or a bloody ghost or anything like that, so you’re left to bury your head under the covers at night hoping that your lights stay off and none of your doors open and close on their own.
The movie had only two central characters and was shot on a hand-held camera by the actors themselves. Apparently it only took $15,000 to make. I don’t want to give any of it away, but perhaps my experience that night as I lay in bed – too scared to move or open my eyes or get rid of the comforter that had me sweating and afraid that our bedroom curtains were moving on their own – is enough of a guarantee that this movie did it’s job.
