Paranormal Activity

WHat is it about faux-documentaries that can be so terrifying? Its similar to how when a character breaks the fourth wall on screen it can be unsettling. It removes the imaginary wall that separates the viewer and reality from the the film and fiction. Watching film is essentially a voyeuristic experience. We as the viwer are privy to the professional, personal, and private lives of the characters on screen. We see whast no one on screen other than that character gets to see. SO when a film is shot as as a documentary but really is not, we feel like we are watching real people. We are no longer thematic voyeurs, but real voyeurs.
Paranomral Activoty is a faux-doc about a couple who live in a haunted house. The boyfriend, Micah, decides to tote around a handheld camera to capture everything on video for research purposes. Really, he's just excited. The film mostly consists of static shots of the couples bedroom and what happens at night. For instance, the door moves twice in one night. Another night, the girlfriend Katie gets out of bed and stands for three hours. The occurences start out unsettling and as the characters learn more and more about whats going on, and Micah starts doing things that more or less piss off evil spirits, things get worse. I won't blow it, but there are some genuinely terrifying moments. The keyword is some. While it's an intriguing film, the acting and basic handling of the subject matter is shaky and removes some of the atmosphere. Its a film where as a viewer we wait for some serious scares and get none.
Paranomral Activity is in the same vein as The Blair Witch Project. Whereas that film had solid acting and creates a more defined and scary mythology to pair with, Paranomral Activity falls short in those areas. Still, you have to give the filmmakers credit as they grossed a motherload compared to their budget,