Alfred Hitchcock once gave an interview where he explained what suspense was, and how it could be used.  In essence, he said that having a bomb under a desk blow up could be frightening, but having that same bomb sit under the desk for five minutes while two men in the room discussed baseball, unaware of the bomb’s existence, was unnerving suspense.  Paranormal Activity, which in some ways is the new Blair Witch Project (a micro-budget horror film which is growing in popularity by word of mouth), successfully uses that Hitchcockian principle to frighten audiences at times, and keep them uneasy the rest of the film.

The plot is simple enough, and much of it could be (and probably was) taken from episodes of A Haunting, Ghosts, or any of a number of cable television shows which retell haunting experiences which are supposedly based on truth.  As Heather and I recently finished watching seasons 1 and 2 of A Haunting, many of the ingredients were very familiar: a young couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, who use their first names as their character names as well) live in a two-story home in San Diego.  Prior to the start of the film, we’re led to believe they have experienced a number of nighttime disturbances: noises, bumps, and voices.  Katie has revealed to Micah that this is nothing new for her; she’d gone through similar periods when she was 8, 13, and at other times.  Micah doesn’t take the events seriously, but he does relish the idea of capturing any paranormal activity on film.  So he buys himself a digital movie camera, which he sets up in their bedroom to capture anything they might miss while asleep.

The story progresses as you would expect it to.  The activity grows more frequent and more alarming, and now they have proof that something or someone is causing it.  Katie becomes more frightened and agitated, while Micah seems to dare the forces to let themselves be seen; whether this is because he wants more “cool” footage, or because he feels he can deal with the problem if it is no longer hidden (or both), we’re not sure.  A psychic is brought in, who suggests that because this has followed Katie throughout her life, it is demonic rather than a haunting.  In this instance, leaving the home will do no good; it has followed Katie before, and it likely would do so again.  He suggests they call on a colleague who specializes in such matters, but Micah is the normal alpha male, and he is determined to learn the answers to all the questions and eliminate the problem on his own, despite Katie’s protests.  So step by step he makes stupid decisions and antagonizes the situation, which would be less believable in a larger film.  But here, where the action never leaves the house and the interaction between the couple is shown in such minute detail, it doesn’t come across as dishonest characterization.  And, as it happens, Micah does many of the same things other husbands and boyfriends do in various episodes of “true life” haunting episodes on television.

The suspense lies in the videos the camera takes.  These are played back for the audience, with a clock in the lower right hand corner.  The videos speed through in time-lapse format until something is about to happen, at which time they slow to real-time speed.  This is the Hitchcock method; we know something is going to happen, but we simply don’t know what it will be.  Sometimes it is benign, such as Katie waking from a nightmare.  Other times, it is unworldly. 

If you go to see this film alone, it won’t be that enjoyable.  See it with someone you know; our theater was rather empty, but that did not detract from our enjoyment or Paranormal Activity.  It isn’t a horror film in the modern sense (where bloody, violent movies like Saw VI and remakes of Halloween or April Fool’s Day rule the box office), but more of a suspense film.  Regardless of how you classify it, it’s a fun movie (and Heather was really scared and uptight by the time it ended, which is always a bonus).