Paranormal Activity

Suspense, thrills and chills will hit you where you least expect them in the Internet-hyped movie "Paranormal Activity." The surprise factor is certainly what makes this ultra-low-budget horror film so much stressful fun.

If it feels familiar, that's because writer-director Oren Peli borrows some of the ingredients that made 1999's "The Blair Witch Project" such a must-see-in-the-theater hit. "Paranormal Activity" was reportedly made for $15,000, which seems truly magical in this era of star power and $100 million budgets.

Like "Blair Witch," Peli relies on unknown actors and the amateur feel of the homemade movie, complete with the shaky camera technique (if you can call it that). But he makes it feel so realistic that you get taken in right away.

Maybe it's because we're so used to reality television, but the film's couple -- Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherstone) - - are so pleasantly normal they could be your next-door neighbors or your best friends from college.

They seem eerily calm at the start of the movie, as Micah has just purchased a high-dollar video camera and sound equipment in the hopes of documenting the unusual events going on at their home.

And this isn't your typical ghost stuff such as rattling chains and creaky noises. Micah mostly follows Katie around their home, and yes, the wobbly camera is a bit off-putting at first, but rest assured -- it's nowhere near as vertigo-inducing as "Blair Witch."

The majority of these paranormal events happen at night when the tripod-mounted camera records the couple sleeping in their bedroom. It starts with plenty of simple things: a closing door, misplaced keys, weird noises and the sounds of footsteps.

But everything changes when Katie brings in a psychic (Mark Fredrichs) and begins to tell her story. "Whatever it is, it's not human," she says. "It feels like a monster."

I won't spoil it, but let's just say that Katie is no stranger to things that go bump in the night. Micah is her determined protector, even though he seems a little flip about many of these events. He wants to catch "it" no matter what the psychic says -- he believes recording the events and bringing out the Ouija board would only aggravate the thing. But that wouldn't be any fun for the audience, would it?

So instead, Peli uses this problem as a device for mounting suspense. Rather than wanting to scream, "Don't go in there!" the audience wants to yell, "Turn off the stupid camera!"

Night after night, the events seem to get worse. Loud banging noises, shattered photographs, and a hair-raising incident with baby powder and footprints soon transform the unknown scary thing into a terrifying nightmare.

Peli largely succeeds in terms of suspense, even though his pace is somewhat unbalanced and the premise gets a bit repetitive. Films that play off the audience are risky -- the filmmaker either elicits the perfect reaction, or the audience leaves feeling manipulated. And if you need a tidy ending and full explanation, you'll likely leave this movie unsatisfied.

But if holding your breath is the movie experience you're looking for, you'll get plenty of thrills in "Paranormal Activity." It's certainly something you won't want to watch alone.

Paranormal Activity

Stars: Micah Sloat, Katie Featherstone

Theaters: AMC Southroads 20, Cinemark Tulsa

Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Rated: R (for language)

Quality: (on a scale of zero to four stars)

Originally published by KIM BROWN World Scene Writer.

(c) 2009 Tulsa World. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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