Paranormal Activity (Movie)

Midnight showing. Perfectly macabre.

I was prepared with sour patch kids, Swedish fish, and popcorn to battle fear with food. It's a ritual. Attend horror film. Lament choice. Eat for distraction.

However, most often the choice to eat is in boredom or disinterest. The days of 70s suspense and gritty, grainy terror are gone. Replaced by fast paced, loud-noised, rap-soundtracked, tongue-in-cheek echos of the originality of Scream (which was in itself a satire of what came before).

We're short on new. In fact, it's been said all the great stories have already been told. We're just reshuffling. So why fight it? Tell a story we've heard. Tell it from an original perspective.

Oren Peli (Director/Writer/Producer/Editor) of Paranormal Activity didn't just tell the story from a fresh perspective, he harnessed the power of simplicity. Took us back to the fundamentals of Greek theatre. Fear of what's beyond our immediate perception.

Scratches, bangs, bumps, are all agonizing in off-screen oblivion. Tension is so visceral in Paranormal Activity that you want to beg them to stop filming. Don't make it angry! You don't know what it is! You don't know what it's capable of! The darkness unseen. Our mind fills in the rest. And what nightmares our minds are capable of.

Masterfully built, the film has echos of Blair Witch in its documentary format but without the stigma of making the actors "documentarians". They're normal people caught up in the enthusiasm of the paranormal curiosity sweeping the nation.

Clearly, they're NOT alone in that regard. The midnight line at 42nd Street stretched around the block. A host of Networks now offer shows like Paranormal State, Ghost Hunters, Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures, A Haunting, and even my own (shameless plug) pilot Project Ghostlight will make the airwaves soon (I hope).

For New Yorkers, believing in the paranormal would seem logical. Many of us here live solitary lives. Some suffer from what I'd call "urban ennui". The sense that though, surrounded by others, we are still alone in our private world. Our routine. Our little box with a bathroom and cable. To believe in the paranormal here would mean not being so alone. What our minds create beyond the folds of tangible perception however, is entirely up to us. The boiler creak could be grandma saying hello, or something far more sinister belching up from the depths.

I bet you can guess where Paranormal Activity takes that choice.

The film has not yet made its National release. Soon enough, so says the buzz around the project. If you're really antsy, you can visit the official site to "demand it" in your city. In the meantime it's still playing at 42nd street (with a few more theatres opening tomorrow) but at the less macabre hour of 10PM.

Indulge your darkest curiosity and go. Bring a friend.

** Update Friday Oct. 16** Following an overwhelming interest and demand from 1,000,000 fans Paramount Studios releases Paranormal Activity nationwide today.**

INFO:
Paranormal Activity
www.paranormalmovie.com