Paranormal Activity
Director: Oren Peli
Year Released: 2007
Rating: 1.0
Home-movie style horror has insensitive boyfriend Micah following around girlfriend Katie with several cameras in order to record evidence of the spectre that's haunting her; meanwhile, all capable exorcists and ghost hunters are out of town for the week (or unwilling to offer assistance). There's a lot of build-up and very little pay-off - though director Peli has a good handle on the technical aspects, the moments that startle are few and far between and the picture is basically boy/girl banter. I made a fleeting attempt to dissect the gender politics while watching - for example, are females more haunted by their pasts than males? - before realizing I'm overanalyzing what is clearly a Blair Witch clone. The easily spooked have apparently taken to this; I have a hard enough time dealing with the living to be concerned with the dead.
