Most people are asking themselves this question right now as the movie Paranormal Activity (USA, 2007) directed by Oren Peli still makes loads and loads of money.
Oren Peli, an ex-game programmer, affirms that the movie (or most parts of it) are based on true facts; his facts... He says that in 2006 some "paranormal phenomena" started to occur with him and his girlfriend (now, ex-girfriend). He bought a house in San Diego, and late at night (according to him) he was sleeping and a box of detergent fell off the shelf. The box was pushed too far back for it to just tilt and fall.
With US$500 in hand each, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, two personal friends of Peli, agreed to shoot Paranormal Activity using ther own names. The movie was completed in 10 days (with no edition) and there was almost 70-80 hours of footage. The script, most of the time, was improvised by Katie and Micah to make it more realistic. They showed up to be such good actors that the movie exploded with viewings in the internet.
Finally, one copy was delivered to Steven Spielberg, who got too scarred to watch the movie at night, stopped and finished it the next morning. Spielberg called Peli, took the movie to Paramount and helped him make the final scene more... terrifying.
The movie (which was finished in 2007) was exhibited in selected cinemas in 2009. After the online demand (users could request the movie in their cities), the movie is now playing everywhere. With a final budget of US$15,000, the movie is already considered the most lucrative in film history: it raised US$ 107 million only in its first few weeks showing in the US!
Now, let's talk about the story of the movie.
This movie is not a classic horror. It's part of a new kind of thrillers: it doesn't show everything on-screen. Actually, the lack of image is what makes us terrified. Sometimes, the scenes are blurred so we can only try to understand what's going on.
This resource used on the movie made it reach the status of "one of the scariest movies ever" because, as we tend to think about it, the movie leads us to a big ascending state of horror. Oftenly, the action is not showed and we can only hear the noises.
It's in that absence of the vision in a few scenes (allied to the sometimes poor quality of the image) that lies the film's true charm. The truly horrifying thing here is not what we see, is what we *don't* see. That's why lots of people claim that it's scary and disturbing: because of our imagination about what might be happening.
Katie and Micah are a nice couple who is having problems with (what they believe to be) some sort of ghost who's haunting their house. Soon they will figure out that the ghost does not want the house: It wants Katie. After going to see a specialist, they decide to shoot their nights on video, so they can replay and see what's going on.
The paranormal activity occurs at night, while they're asleep. They decide to close all windows and doors (to prove it's not the wind) and videotape the nights, so that in the morning they can see what happens while they sleep. As the movie goes on, Katie starts to get "possessed" and the "ghost" takes her body and soul.
SPOILER ALERT! Don't read ahead if you have not watched the movie yet!
As far as I know, there are four alternative endings to the movie. They are: the one in cinemas (where Katie kills Micah and throws him at the camera), the original one (where she kills him and then the cops kill her), one that was never shot (Katie kills Micah with the camera) and the one exhibited in film festivals (Katie kills Micah and then slits her throat with a knife).
I'm between the original or the cinema. I liked the cinema ending because it's the scariest and there is the best "flying-Micah" scene. But the original one really got me because it shows how much Katie suffers knowing that she killed Micah while possessed.
I just did not like the Katie-dying scene on the original and the fact that she just doesn't suffer with Micah's death (cinema) I believe Peli and Spielberg shot the ending we see in the theaters to leave an open door to a sequel (Paranormal Activity 2 is coming on 2012).
Really recommended.
>> iRaphael [5/5]
IMDB link: HERE
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