Paranormal Activity

Rating:****

Can you scare people witless by stationing a camera,as a mute recorder,in one corner of a bedroom,and turning that ‘found’ footage into film? Gulp,yes.

Micah and Katie live in a really nice,smartly-appointed house. For some unexplained reason,neither seems to go out that much,and when we come upon them first,he is setting up a sophisticated,expensive camera in their bedroom so that it can record the ‘paranormal activity’ that’s been bothering Katie for a while.

The young couple,who’ve been together for three years,is shown getting increasingly disturbed by the noises that emanate from strange corners of the house when they are asleep ; she,in fact,is distraught,because a psychic they consult tells her that it is not the house,but her,who’s responsible for the noises. What we are shown is the view from Micah’s perspective ( he’s the one who’s handling the camera) ,so there’s a lot more of her in the frame. The device,used so successfully in ‘The Blair Witch Project’,allows us to enter Katie’s circle of unease easier. It also lets us understand Micah’s initial nonchalant reaction to the noises: he’s the one behind the camera,he’s the one in control.

But this is way more scary than ‘Blair Witch’ because it takes the old conceit of things that go bump into the night,and brings it slyly into a well-to-do,middle class suburb. The sheer ordinariness of lives turned upside down with things that go askew,slightly at first,and then much more rapidly,makes the whole even more frightening.

The psychic brushes his hands off,saying he only ‘deals’ with ghosts,and what they’ve got is definitely not one of those. So off he goes,leaving the two in a house increasingly inimical to its inmates. There are times,when you are holding your breath for what will leap out at poor Katie next,when you can sense the malevolence of whatever it is that is after her.

A great metaphor for our constantly connected times is the always on camera. Does a demon live in the instruments we use all the time,without giving them a break ? Is that what feeds on us,and stokes our fears? Whatever,I haven’t been as scared as this in a long,long time. And that’s because it’s all suggested,nothing overt,which is far more frightening.

Do not,repeat,do not watch this on DVD. Get into a theater,take someone with you to hold on to,and prepare to be scared. Very scared.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com