Paranormal Activity: Spoilers

So I just got out of a screening of the new horror film Paranormal Activity. Overall I felt that the movie was okay, nothing too incredible - but worth a trip to see if your into horror movies. I wanted to review the movie since it's been forever since I've seen one in theatres, but in order to talk about this movie there will be some definite major spoilers (you've been warned)....

I felt that the movie had definite potential, but it was comparable to the TV show "A Haunting." Where there are reenactments and nothing is taken too seriously. I've heard that a lot of people were laughing/talking during screenings of this and I will be the first to admit that I was one of those people. I definitely was scared that things were going to jump out at me during the movie, but it was not one of those films that stayed with me afterwards. The character development was interesting - as the film continued and the demonic happenings increased Micah became more of an a**hole and Katie more of a witch with a b. By the end of the movie I felt that Micah had it coming to him after being so mean to Katie and then antagonizing the demon. The Ouija board scene was somewhat laughable mainly because it was predictable and then having it catch fire was a bit over the top. It was a bit of a tease to go into the story about the other possessed girl and then not learn anything more about it. I suppose its because its a mock-u-mentary, and we aren't suppose to learn anymore than the characters do but I found it rather frustrating. I suppose after years of horror films I'm conditioned to want to know why the person is being followed around by a demon, not just how the demon is follow them around.

The whole ending I felt was a bit of a cop out. Not only was Micah the dumbest character to not realize how clearly messed up Katie was (aka possessed), but the ending felt a bit over the top. Obviously the movie was going to have some sort of major ending, but it felt like it was too far of a stretch compared to the previous scenes. To have possessed Katie throw her dead boyfriends body at the camera and then stare creepily at him/camera for an ending was a bit too traditional Hollywood ending for a movie that survived off of more subtle things (like the noises and the sheets moving).

Overall I felt the movie was okay. Definitely not the best horror film I've seen, but worth a look just to see what all the hypes about. Apparently it was leaked on the Internet awhile ago and there are various endings. After reading about them I would have gone with just ending with her rocking on the floor, totally creepy. The character development was nice, with the couple getting more hostile toward each other and the demon feeding off the negative energy. I liked that the movie's scare was fueled more by what you didn't see or assumed was happening. As the audience was limited by seeing only what the supposed handheld camera saw I felt like my imagination filled in and added to the on edge feel. Additionally, it was interesting watching a film without a score behind it - I hadn't really noticed it till I read off of a few message boards. I suppose the demon's footsteps provided the "soundtrack" for the film.

I feel this is a DVD rental unless you have some deep desire to see what all the hype is about.