So. What can be said for the film Paranormal Activity that hasn't been said by hundreds of pther people who get to pay good money for a cheap (and really, $15,000 is cheap) flick made in someone's house w/ a handycam and one hell of a story to tell? What can I, some schmuch non-reviewer (cuz I'm not on rotten Tomatoes and they rule all apparently) add to the pool of reviews already out?

The usual thoughts of what I loved and what I didn't, w/ some spoilers. So really, when i review, I usually review w/ people who have already seen the flick, and thereby pretty much makes the whole effort redundant. But redundancy is an American right and goddamit, I'mma use it. So here we go:

-My first point of order is actually a reviewer point, which is to say, what I found other people reviewing the movie found stupid, but I found pretty normal: Why wouldn't Katie tell Micah she was experiencing weird shit? Uh....I dunno about you, but I'm pretty damned sure the social norm of paranomral activity is that it DOESN'T EXIST. Most people don't believe in it, and even when told, are pretty skeptical. Adding into the fact that the activity has been very personal for her, I know that mentioning it to her boyfriend would be a hard decision, w/ the hope that things never get worse (and they do, but only because Micah helps make that 1 billion times worse). I don't blame her character for leaving that conveniently out, especially when you look at the film as a whole and see how his role made things tumble downhill faster than things got bad in The Hangover (ok, maybe not. this film is blessedly slow-moving for over half the film). Almost as if Katie knew that Micah's macho "I'm gonna take care of this" attitude would somehow snowball her problems ultimately out of their control.
Anyhow, that's how I felt about it. Remember: I'm no critic. I'm just a film watcher.

-Pacing is, as mentioned, very slow. Painstakingly slow. Mind-numbingly slow for those who are used to faster horror flicks like Saw or even Final Destination. But the pacing remains at its slow rumble, and maintains it, even as the "action" (mainly all the night bedroom portions) escalates. When you step back to look, the activity is slow in escalation, starting from footsteps and the keys, and eventually growing to door slams, loud bangs and the crazy Ouija action. But as that downward spiral spins out of control, you see a very real unravelling of nerves (mostly Katie's), and the couple's relationship as this entity tears them apart. The motive for this relentless attack doesn't even occur til near the end of the film, but to me, I couldn't see this rushing any faster without ruining the pacing. This is a real life plagued by something otherworldly, and it has all the time in the world to get what it wants.
And what it wants is Katie. For whatever. I don't know. I'm ok with not knowing.

-Micah's running full tilt into his inevitable fate is obvious from the outset. From his almost giddy anticipation of activity (whereas Katie is cautious, and rightfully so), and his insisting, unrelenting provocation pretty much cements the fact that he has it coming, and oh man does it come (hurr hurr). You almost want to hate him (and its ok to hate him, because honestly, he was a dick for the most part), but at the same time, since he's technically your narrator by way of the camera, you have to go along w/ him. As an unreliable narrator, Micah does a good job, almost comically sometimes (his dick questions to the psychic and his annoyed tone when he finds his picture disfigured later in the film), but you know he's headed for doom, and you almost anticipate it.

-Did it scare me? Immensely. I still haven't had a decent night's sleep. I couldn't tell you why other than that I'measy to scare. But the best part of the experience was the act of being scared w/o seeing very much (if at all, the best parts of the demon you see are footprints and a shadow). I'm pretty jazzed about that because, like Cloverfield, I really liked making up what the thing looked like on my own (and unlike Cloverfield, i was given the blessing of never seeing it in whole).
But the experience was heightened by just being in the theater w/ everyone else, being scared. Every time Micah and Katie bedded down for the night, the blue glow of the night setting of the camera, EVERYONE in the theater would take a giant in take of air, and you could feel everyone almost lean in to the edge of their seats. If this sounds like a romanticized image of the theater, then BAL-LEE DAT SHIT, cuz I'm not making that up. And the moment daylight came, and the morning after rolls around, even when the action at night was tame, everyone would exhale at the same time, amid some nervous laughter for being so caught up in that single moment. It was an amazing experience, because for over an hour, we all were one whole entity, drawn into the shakey world of a relationship teetering on the balance of "ok" and "totally NOT ok".

-Was the movie scary? That's more of the question than "what makes this film scary?". If I can use the theater's reaction as a barometer, then most certainly yes, Paranormal Activity was one of the most successful horror movies made in recent times (ever? that's a newer question I cannot and will not answer because I don't think I have the capacity to answer it). I can only back up my "glowing" review w/ the experience I had, and it was AMAZING.

--I've also heard about the alternate endings, which range from outright creepy, to catering to the new-horror gornography fans (to an extent, its not overly gory in the grander scheme of things), and I'm glad they stuck w/ the one they did ultimately. It was a happy medium between genuinely creepy, and delivering on a final ending that both pleases the new horror fan (or someone expecting special effects) and those who prefer the simpler fare of not seeing the monster in total.

I'd have paid $18 for it. Bar none, it was probably my most favorite horror movie I have ever seen, and the one that's scared me the most. I would recommend it to those who are fans of the lighter fare of horror: those who like ambiance, prefer less effects, and are in the psychological bracket. Also, if you just plain get scared and enjoy it. Being scared of a lot of things to me makes everything so much more fun.