By Stephen Pytak
 
     Ever hear of Orin Peli?
     Me neither. But he's the guy who directed the found-footage flick that's 
causing a sensation, "Paranormal Activity." 
     He cranked it out in 2007 for, like, $15,000.  And like many low-budget 
independent filmmakers who came before him -- John Carpenter and Tobe 
Hooper for instance -- he proved you can scare the hell out of  people without 
spending millions. All you need are good ideas and the talent to pull it off.
     The found-footage genre has inspired pretty decent horror films, especially
in recent years. They include"Cannibal Holocaust (1978)," "Blair Witch Project  
(1999),"  "Rec (2007)," "Cloverfield (2008) and " the "Rec" remake "Quarantine 
(2008).
    Films in this category contain a few common characteristics:
    --It suggests it's a true story. "Paranormal Activity" states it's made up of 
footage found in a home in October 2006.
    --Usually they include"shaky-cam" shots, although the most interesting images
in "Paranormal Activity" are taken from a tri-pod set up in a bedroom. 
     --There's also the videographer who continues to shoot footage no matter what 
(gotta have one otherwise there's no movie). 
     --There also has to be a cool subject to photograph which is unusual, bordering 
on the unexplainable (a legendary witch, the infected, the Jersey Devil, a monster 
who rises from the depths of who knows where). 
     --And it helps if there's a crazy ending, something to really mess with the 
audience. Then again, if this is truly a "found-footage" movie, then something
had to happen to separate the tapes or the camera from the operator. Either
the stuff was dropped in an abyss or the camera man got eaten by something
in the woods.
     But you just can't take these elements and make something interesting. 
Remember how a bunch of studios tried to piggyback on the success of John
Carpenter's "Halloween (1978)." Some figured all you needed was a guy in 
a mask killing teenagers. Not necessarily.
     With the found-footage genre the key is believability. The audience has to "buy"
what's happening is real to some extent (even if we know it's only a movie). And,
perhaps most importantly, whatever the heck the filmmakers are selling, it's got to 
be scary. Helps if it's unpredictable.
     "Paranormal Activity" is.
     Here's the basic plot: "Katie" and "Micha" have been dating three years. They
move in together. Soon afterwards, they discover a problem with their starter home.
It appears to be haunted. Strange sounds bug them at night. Katie reveals she's
had such experiences happen to her all her life, even though she has moved from 
place to place. Curious about the phenomena, Micha buys a video camera, sets
up a tri-pod in their bedroom and turns it on while they sleep. It shoots footage of
not only the bed room but a bit of the hallway. Over the next three weeks, the
"paranormal activity" increases...
     Unlike "Quarantine" and "Cloverfield," which contain a lot of seiges, this
is more like "Blair Witch," a slow boil which escalates to an eruption.  Not
everyone can get into that.
     The crowd I sat with in King of Prussia, Pa. was a mixed bunch. One guy 
behind me got bored quick. He yelled "Yawn!" at midpoint. The row of  teens in 
front of me for the most part were eating popcorn and texting. Not sure about 
what. But after the shit went down in the end, one of 'em said "that was fucked up." 
Like me, they stayed until the house lights came up, possibly curious to see if 
anything else was going to happen as the screen went black.
     I had a lot of fun. I noticed the filmmakers used the kind of simple tricks which 
made Robert Wise's "The Haunting" scary in 1963. You would think a thump on 
the wall wouldn't be so scary nowadays. But with the right set up and execution, 
you'd be surprised.
     Not sure how much more juice this genre has in it. I want to see "Rec 2 (2009)."
I know fans of "Blair Witch" and "Cloverfield" want follow ups. According to 
IMDB.com, Peli is making a similiar film called "Area 51," involving aliens in the 
Nevada desert. I hope it's good.