Wednesday 19 October 2011

Paranormal Activity

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Year:2007
Country of origin:USA
Director:Oren Peli
Genre:Verité horror
Starring:Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong, Ashley Palmer
Rating:4/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179904/
Tagline:Don't See It Alone
Favourite line:"You cannot run from this- it will follow you. It may lay dormant for years."

Low budget, low-fi spook fest that really delivers.

The plot:
Micah and Katie are a regular couple, but their lives are turned upside down when nightly, spooky occurrences drive them both to the brink of sanity.

And damned effective it is, too.
Shot on a shoe string, this is minimalist horror that relies on atmosphere and the power of persuasion to instill the fear.
Nothing much happens: a door shifts here; a shadow lurks there.
Yet still this drips menace.
Effectively a two-hander, with only the brief interruption of a third person, the most impressive thing of all is the relationship between the two besieged in their own home as, truthfully, you really feel that they are a couple, she, a terrified woman, imprisoned in her own home, he, a bit of a joker, not really taking it all as seriously as he should.
As the tension builds, all eyes are drawn to the mystifyingly open bedroom door, awaiting a spectre and, even as the very brief credits roll, the image of that portal to impending terror will loom large.
No gore.
No theatrics.
No incidental music.
This is horror as real as it gets, and only loses a mark as it is not quite as intense as it's own sequel.
Jolly good, spooky fun.

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