first of all i just want to say that i probably saw the movie the exorcist way too early in my childhood development. as a result i spent years afraid of demons and satan and religion in general. it wasn't that i was afraid of my own possession - those possessed looked pretty out of it. i sort of imagined them taking a back seat, sitting somewhere in the empty void of the body sipping on some tea while a demon had its way with your loved ones. that's why i was always afraid that it would be my parents or a friend at a sleepover, who would wake me up in the middle of the night by floating into my room and puking all over me. i still can't stand puke to this day.
imagine my delight when i learned that paranormal activity wasn't about your run of the mill hauntings (ie. poltergeist or ghost dad), but a full on demon fest. i mean, what is it about demons that they gotta be such straight up assholes? cast out of heaven, sure, sure...but i thought they were supposed to lead us into temptation, not drive us to tears by slamming doors in the middle of the night and pulling us out of our beds.
whereas movies like hostel and my bloody valentine 3d (i can't even be mad at this movie, it was pretty great) hit you over the head with gore and violence (almost quite literally in the later), paranormal activity comes at you with subtlety. the slight pivot of a door. foot steps left in powder. an impossible photograph. a loved one standing at the side of the bed. the villain here isn't an axe wielding maniac or sadistic mother-in-law, it's the immense void of darkness. it's your own imagination. there are gaps of time where you're staring at nothing but a couple sleeping with a foreboding corridor taunting you at the side of the screen. is there something about to come through it? are you about to be scared out of your seat? it doesn't matter because you're already imagining things far worse than what is probably going to happen. and that's the scariest part of this movie. the tension. the waiting. your own sick head just trying to scare the piss out of you before the movie can.
the story focuses on a relationship under the stress of this haunting. it's simple but adds to the success of the movie. in an odd way it's themes closely parallel that of my last movie, la haine. for the majority of the movie michah, the boyfriend, pretends like nothing wrong is happening to his girlfriend or their relationship (so far so good...) and in the end, well, i won't ruin the movie expect to say something is obviously wrong with both. especially the girlfriend. women. you can't live with them, you can't live without them bringing a demon to plague you for the rest of your days. my only complaint has to be the end, which pulls the signs treatment and lets you see a little too much. why try put a face on pure evil?
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