Paranormal Activity

This movie is really scary. It rivals Blair Witch Project and cost less-only about $15000. Considering it has reportedly earned a lot more, it has been a steal as an investment. It also forced me to do some research regarding a Ouija board.

This movie is about two people, who are not married but have a healthy relationship and a beautiful home in San Diego. It occurs in Sept./Oct. of 2006. Apparently, Katie played by Katie Featherston has been haunted by a demon since child birth. She tried to pretend it did not occur, or fabricate excuses, but something was following her. Her house as child burned down myteriously, the investigation by the fire department came up empty as to the cause.

Micah Sloat is Micah, her boyfriend. Katie slowly informs Micah that she is hearing things at night and that something is bothering her when she sleeps. So Micah goes and buys a nice digital recorder with a tripod. She is unhappy with this move which just befuddles me. This makes complete sense, it can be used to record what is happening inside their home while they sleep. She thinks it will bother the entity but her reasoning is unfounded.

Apparently Katie's family was not religious or they would have solved this issue years ago. They made the same mistake in the movie The Exorcist, the mother in that movie waited until the demon was entrenched and it was almost impossible to extricate the demon without hurting the girl. Katie's family never consulted a church so I have to question their wisdom and decision making skills.

Katie convinces Micah they need to seek help. They turn to Mark Fredrichs who is The Psychic. He asks her and him some questions but mainly focuses on Katie. She informs him some of the information I have revealed, he informs them this is probably a demon and since he concentrates on ghosts, he can not offer further assistance. He does give them a number of a doctor in LA who can help them. Mark tells them to not try to communicate with the demon, to not use a Ouija board, and that running from the home will not work. He does not inform them to seek a priest or ask them if a priest blessed the house. So, I have to question his judgement as well.

The bizaare happenings at night continue. And they rarely turn on the light. At night, any disturbance, any concern, the lights are coming on. Even the police at the end do not turn on the lights, in a dark home. Lights are better than flashlights. What? Katie grows more hysterical. I had some questions though from the outset. Like, what does she do for a living? Did the demon ever try to harm her when she was in High School? You mean she was never in a locker room alone or a classroom? Is she ever in the home alone, day or night? It seems like they are always in the home at the same time which is not likely. Only once in the movie do they have a friend over. Odd. Only once does she call her father or mother and this is after Micah finds a burned picture of her in the attic. Why is in the attic? Micah is innovative and seems to be a problem solver. He is calculating, he puts powder all over the floor and it works. The demon leaves foot prints which lead up to the attic. He climbs up there, at that moment and find this picture. He shows it to Katie and she begins to tremble, it is a picture from her childhood, the corners are burned, and she has not seen it in about 15 years.

Micah is a loving partner but he does not want to seek help despite his ignorance and her pleas. Strike on him. Katie fights him on the camera despite its daily usefullness. Strike on her. Micah goes out and obtains a Ouija board despite the psychic specifically warning them against this. Micah, for far too long, takes this as a joke and a hobby. Katie never warned Micah about her mysterious past. He has a point there when he brings this up.

There is a scene in the middle of the movie where she gets up out of bed and hesitates and stands adjacent to the bed for about 50 minutes. Then she walks outside, must have sleepwalked and winds up on the swing. Micah wakes up and notices her being absent, frantically looks for her, always carrying the recording camera, and when he checks the back sliding glass door, it is open. It is cool San Diego night and she is sitting down on the swing and is uncooperative. She tells him that she wants to remain out there and returns inside to retreive some blankets. He hears some noises inside and goes upstairs and finds their bedroom TV on. When he walks in there, on full alert, Katie appears right behind him. She gets into bed and for some reason, so does he. Not me, I would demand a full explanation and if I had to poor water on her head, I would do that. The following morning she is shocked by her actions. Her actions can not be logically accounted for.

It is amazing they did not seek help after this. To me, sleepwalking is spooky in its own right. But this has to do with influencing thought and behavior. Nope, I would have to make some severe changes.

The psychic told them that if it gets worse, to contact that demon doctor. Micah resists every time Katie brings it up, they both know the situation is exacerbating. Micah is hardheaded and does not know when to seek help. That is a flaw on his part.

Wow, Katie would whine at different parts, it was annoying. The psychic warned them about fighting, and they did not listen. Both were stubborn at times when they should not have been.

There was a pretty gruesome scene at the end of this movie. Micah would do a lot of research about how to defeat their enemy online. He would also look at the video footage the following day on his lap top to see what or if anything happened that night. About 3/4 the way into this movie, he found only an exorcism video. In this online video, the girl was possessed and bit her own arm off. Why doctors did not strap her down is beyond me. But perhaps this occured at night and they had no idea this would or could occur.

Katie is wanted by this demon. This entity has a crush on her, why, no one knows why or how this occurs. The spirit was pulling her away and managed to shut the door to impede her boyfriend. Clever.

Well, Katie does not listen to Micah when he says they should leave. Would leaving help? No, but it would help him. I would have not remained in that house if I was him. She was a threat, she had already proved to be apt to be manipulated by this demon. Ofcourse I would have sought a priest at the first moment and had the home blessed upon moving in.

This movie is frustrating because they never consulted a priest. Who are these people? Even in liberal SoCal that would be a logical choice or transition. Their neighbors are never shown. For this movie's small budget, this movie is horrifying. It does the trick, it delivers. Katie and Micah are solid performers. I was convinced of their plight. Ofcourse I would have been praying and employing a priest. Not one loved one ever visited them. Micah thought he was commando, but this type of threat can not be handled by an unbeliever. Both of them made decisions which lead to their doom.

I allocate this movie four stars.****