The official trailer of the movie “Paranormal Activity” shows the audience sitting in auditorium and watching the screen as if mesmerized. Then the calm is broken by shrill cries, women are seen pulling their T-shirts to cover their mouth and girlfriends grabbing the arms of boyfriends as some scene flashes on the screen. “Just publicity stunts” I told my wife! I could not have been more wrong. The film is not a stereotype horror movie following the formula of sex, lots of masks and unnatural bloody scenes. The characteristic I liked most is its near life quality. The viewer is made to feel as if all the drama is happening to him. Imagine you wake up as something huge is creeping under your bed sheet. Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat find a new home for themselves. After a few days they realize that something going on in their house and especially in their bedroom. The bed room is no more as much private as they believe it to be. Micah Sloat has an idea; he fits the camera in the bed room to record the activity all the night. The video made in the night is analyzed to its details in the morning. The process is particularly painful for Katie Featherston as she cannot sleep properly because each and every of her move in the bed is being recorded. The viewers basically see the recordings that the couple has made. Marks appear on the floor by themselves, curtains start crackling, and mysterious noises are being heard as the recordings proceed.

The film is remarkable in other aspects also. The total budget for the film was set at $11 Thousand. There is no cinematographer and some of the recording has been done by the main characters Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat. There was no location to film the movie so it was shot in Director’s own house and yes! There was some construction going on in the house at the time film was shot.

Katie Featherston Micah Sloat