‘Paranormal’ Mediocrity

paranormal_activity_posterUnlike what you’ve seen in its brilliant marketing campaign over the last month, the events that take place in Oren Peli’s “Paranormal Activity” aren’t in the least bit scary.

However, the fact that he was able to create a film on a shoestring budget, with a plot as thin as Nicole Richie after a weekend bender- and have it work on the big screen- has Hollywood shaking in its collective boots.

For that element alone, “Paranormal Activity” is a success at the box office. Nonetheless, just because a film grosses millions of dollars doesn’t mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that it’s a quality piece of cinema.

In the case of this flick, fun is a word that will come up quite a bit, but developed, and downright terrifying? Well, they leave themselves at the door before you pick up your popcorn.

An eccentric study of personality clashes, “Paranormal Activity” is ultimately a test of will between two people who, by all means, shouldn’t be together. Had Micah [Micah Sloat] accepted the fact that his girlfriend had a dilemma that he couldn’t fix and had Katie [Katie Featherston] separated herself from the man she loved for his own benefit, the story would have never advanced past the first 15 minutes. Regardless of this, their descent into madness is one of the driving forces of the film and one that you want to see them deal with.

Horror is no place for rational thinking-especially when the horror isn’t happening to you.

Sloan is hilarious throughout the film, as he never second-guesses his ability to take care of the “problem” his girlfriend, Katie, has with her own personal demon. His consistent need to tape everything he sees is the catalyst in the film and his almost Wile E. Coyote ways of getting things done, ranging from taping them in their bed room and putting powder on the floor, are more like a comedic treat, rather than anything close to terror-inducing.

His later dealings with psychic Mark Fredrichs [who is absolutely hysterical in his small role] cement the notion even more, making the audience feel that he is not someone to be taken seriously and his end is in the cards.

For this, you can say “Paranormal Activity” fails in creating a truly solid horror film, as you know they are encompassed in a battle they can not win. Nevertheless, it makes for some fun train wreck cinema.

The same thing goes for Featherson, as her desires to get to the bottom of the situation are continually repressed by the smirky Sloat, who again, feels he is the man in the relationship and will do anything to get the demon away from “his girl and his home.” This creates several interesting scenes where Sloat is forced to act and indeed defend his home and his lady. These droplets in the film are some of the most intriguing and fill out the story as much as it possibly can be. Throughout the film, you’ll want to know more about the characters, as you never find out what Sloan’s job is or how the couple is able to afford the sweet home they live in. You do know the important things like Featherston’s lengthy demon chronicles that have followed her for over a decade, though and that is in effect, all you really need to know.

Being able to give the audience just enough information to keep them captivated is an arduous task and here, Peli has done an exceptional job. Throughout “Paranormal Activity,” you’ll be hesitant to blink, as the feeling of “something about to happen,” never wains. Never more present than during the multitude of bedroom scenes, Peli plays with perspective and creates illusions that send quick chills up the spine. Seeing Katie’s later trials and tribulations are also worthwhile, and give this flick a creepy factor and up the anticipation even more.

Nonetheless, that feeling is never fully reciprocated to a level that separates it from the ever-growing pack of horror films shot in this fashion.

It may be fun and it may have accomplished so much more than its budget called for, but in the end, “Paranormal Activity” is nothing more than a slightly better than mediocre effort. It’s great with friends that don’t need to be scared and just want need to be entertained, but true horror aficionados will be disappointed, as the great advertising for this film blew it up bigger than the “Good Year” blimp. While it doesn’t deflate and sink to nether regions of the genre, “Paranormal Activity” is stuck in traffic with the rest of us.

mm
About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*