"You cannot run from this- it will follow you. It may lay dormant for years. Something may trigger it to become more active and it may over time reach out to communicate with you."
Yesterday I really felt that I should indulge myself in watching a movie at the local theaters, all by myself. To tell the truth: My wife said she wouldn't want to see it because she's afraid of the dark; and my longtime best friend doesn't like subjective cameras at all, so I didn't ask him this time. Then again, I'm quite comfortable by myself, and after the day I had I believe I actually deserved to be there...
Whatever... The film was Paranormal Activity (2007). My wife brought it to my attention a few weeks ago by letting me see a trailer, and my first thought went to The Blair Witch Project which we both saw together and I had hoped we would celebrate it as a kind of anniversary... but that wasn't to be...
Katie and Micah are "engaged to be engaged" and have moved to their own home in the suburbs when Katie's old childhood presence makes itself felt and heard again; last time it terrorized her it was when she was a child and their home ultimately went up into flames. Micah, a strong but willful young man, has this bright idea that they should film everything and try to record the entity's activities as it goes bump in the night (and by daytime too, for that matter).
While we follow them through the lens of Micah's camera we can see doors moving, hear strange sounds and violent rumbles and be aware of shadows moving and other strange goings-on. Katie does the right thing to call a psychic, though her beau seems to think it's complete bogus. The expert tells them it has nothing to do with ghosts and that it's a demon responsible for all their disturbances, and that she and Micah cannot escape -- because a ghost is connected to a specific place, and is essentially something human; in contrast, a demon is connected to a person... and is nothing human at all!
And since it's not his speciality, the psychic advices them to contact a real demonologist. But, of course, Micah believes he can save the day with the use of his documentation technique and his skills at verbally insulting the demon's abilities, and subsequently refuses to have another witch doctor at the house. Unfortunately, and perhaps fatally, he talks her into not getting help because he is her man and he's the one supposed to protect her. When he decides to get an Ouija board and tries to powder the floor to get some footprints the situation just escalates with sleepwalkings and physical abuse of young Katie. When they finally, exhausted and horrified out of their witts (well, Micah tries to hide it real well, I can tell ;-), she's allowed to call the demonologist. But he's abroad and when the psychic returns he also feels the intense, dark energy of the place and vacates the premises like a bat out of hell, so to speak... Well, it seems to be the end of it then -- nowhere to run for Katie and Micah...
I actually enjoyed this film. The slow pacing and the building of tension while witnessing all the strange activities reminded me of an indoors, domestic relative to The Blair Witch Project. Not as "classically" eerie, nor equally spectacular in its uniqueness, but spellbinding and menacing al the same. However, it's the ultimate ending that confounds me a bit; the somewhat tongue-in-cheek closure of the plot leaves me wondering if the team behind the production in the end wasn't really able to decide whether the whole thing would be better of as a silent mind-boggler with a completely open ending, or if it should be more of a traditional tale of demonic possession with its usual shocks, jumps and ghoulish features. To me, the short sharp shock could have been more or less left out of it all...
Still, I left with the salon with the expected and not so unpleasant bad feeling you get from taking part of the sad and horrific destiny of the our two protagonists. At the same time, hearing the verbal expressions of brutal disappointment of the two post-adolescent boys in the row right behind me, I rose from my seat with a smile of scorn upon my face.
Oh, by the way... Ms. Featherston! See you in Experimental Activity, yes? Love you, girl! ;-D
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