PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
AUGUST 8, 2013

The first time I saw “Paranormal Activity” was in Fargo, ND at the historic Fargo Theater downtown. With rickety wooden seats and creaking lobby doors, this packed theater was the best location to experience this creepy horror film. Sufficiently scary and incredibly unique, Oren Peli writes, directs, and produces this film on a minimal budget and not only revolutionizes the found footage genre, but delivers some of the most convincing and frightening scares to come out of a horror film in the last few decades. Props must be given to the unfamiliar cast, who reaches beyond the low budget horror and convinces the audience that they are in fact being plagued by a demon. Capitalizing off of nightly scares, the cycle of the film is a perfect example of escalating, as the demon’s visits get more and more sinister as the film goes on. Also with some of the most realistic and thought-provoking visual gags, “Paranormal Activity” continues to impress after every viewing.