Slamdance

Paranormal Activity

By DENNIS HARVEY

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A Blumhouse Prods. and Solana Films production. Produced by Oren Peli, Amir Sbeda and Toni Taylor. Directed, screenplay by Oren Peli. Camera (color, HD), Peli; editor, Peli. Reviewed at Slamdance Fest (Narrative Competition), Jan. 18, 2008. Running time: 96 MIN.
 
With: Micah Sloat, Katie Featherson, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong, Tim Piper, Randy McDowell.
 

A couple decide to document poltergeist-like disturbances in "Paranormal Activity." They find that, as on reality TV shows, bad behavior tends to worsen when you train a camera on it. Orin Peli's crew-less debut feature is one of the best genre spins on the pseudo-nonfiction 1st-person-cam since "The Blair Witch Project," with which it shares improvised performances, no explicit violence or "solution," and a gradual escalation of chills. Horror fans who value credible creepiness over the usual splatdom will welcome this in suitable fest slots and niche DVD release.

Young, well-off San Diego duo Katie (Katie Featherson) and Micah (Micah Sloat) have lately been experiencing inexplicable thumps in the night. Actually, she's suffered occasional spookery since childhood--it (or It) seems to follow her around. A psychic specializing in ghosts tells them he can"t help; they need a demonologist. But initially skeptical Micah decides he'll "take care of it" himself, setting up a nocturnal bedroom surveillance camera (the scariest scenes), bringing a Ouija board home, etc. These are very bad ideas. While leads' bickering grows tiresome, "Paranormal" succeeds in staying unnervingly "real" even once nifty, modest FX render the invisible visible.