In theaters
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, written and directed by Oren Peli, 99 minutes, rated R.
The new Oren Peli chiller, “Paranormal Activity,” proves that in a horror movie, often the less you see, the more intense the story.
Given Hollywood’s more-is-more sensibility, that’s a concept that long has been abandoned, and so when a movie like this comes along — regardless of how rock bottom the budget — it can make for a nicely unnerving experience if it’s handled well, as it is here.
The key to what terrifies us usually comes down to what can’t be defined by the physical. Left to our imaginations, we tend to make what isn’t there absolutely there, which is what this movie is about. It’s about the terrible little corners our imaginations creep into if given the chance, if only so they can fester and bloom.
Peli based the movie on his own script, and what he created draws obvious parallels to “The Blair Witch Project,” another low-budget indie that generated as much hype, but which failed to be as unnerving as the activity unspooling here.
“Paranormal” has three main characters, only two of which we physically see. They are Micah (Micah Sloat) and his girlfriend, Katie (Katie Featherston), who live in San Diego with a roommate who isn’t exactly paying his share of the rent, though who nevertheless is paying his share of unwanted nighttime visits.
As the movie opens, we’re on the cusp of Micah and Katie’s nightmare. Micah has purchased a high-definition video camera designed to capture the paranormal activity taking place in their house — it’s through this camera that we receive our first-person view of what’s unfolding in the movie. Micah is a realist, but not so unbelieving about the things going bump in the middle of the night in their house that he’s going to ignore them.
As for Katie, well, Katie hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with Micah. Ever since her house burned down when she was a child she has been visited by a ghost whose interest in her now is increasing to the point of madness. Just what kind of havoc this creature wreaks we’ll let the movie answer, but it is safe to say that when Micah and Katie go to bed at night, with the camera humming from a corner of their bedroom, you never know what it’s going to capture. And, my, does it ever capture.
Throughout the movie, there’s a lot to admire — how spare it is, how its undercurrent of horror gradually reveals itself to us and then consumes us, its genuine jolts of terror, and particularly the acting, which is trickier than some might expect.
What we’re viewing is supposed to be a homemade video, and so to pull that off in this particular story, the actors had to come off as real people aware of the camera in most scenes, annoyed by it in others, and absolutely unaware of it when they were shocked out of the moment by the presence of the otherworldly. Since so much of the dialogue was ad-libbed, the difficulty level of carrying the movie forward was even more of a challenge.
And all challenges were met.
Grade: B+
On DVD and Blu-ray disc
“THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3,” directed by Tony Scott, written by Brian Helgeland, 95 minutes, rated R.
Tony Scott’s brisk remake of the 1974 original film also takes place mostly in the bowels of New York City, specifically its subway system, which long has carried its share of baggage, particularly in the wake of 9-11.
Since then, the talk has been tense. When and if terrorists strike that city again, would they take their underground war literally to the underground, either by releasing toxins into the air that would kill people, or by arming themselves with bombs with the intent to do the same?
By their very nature, subways always have been a dicey proposition — and perfect fodder for movies. Scott understands this and employs it, using the unknown of what lurks below to bolster our fears with pleasurable jolts that aren’t much of a stretch. Well, at least not too much of a stretch.
“The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” begins with a crazed faction of American terrorists led by the mysterious Ryder (John Travolta). Together, these men hijack a subway train, take their share of hostages, and demand $10 million for their release within one hour. If the mayor (James Gandolfini) can’t come up with the money in time, Ryder promises that one passenger will die for every minute that passes beyond the one-hour limit.
Their point man is Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), a transit officer who happens to be in charge of the route taken by Ryder’s hijacked train. And so when the train fails to move along its path, Garber reaches out to speak to its conductor, finds himself connected with Ryder, and suddenly finds himself in the position of hostage negotiations.
Assisting him to that end is John Turturro as one of the city’s key hostage negotiators, but since Ryder wants nothing to do with him, the weight of saving 18 lives comes down to Garber, who must keep his wits about him while he reasons with a madman. Meanwhile, money is hustled across Manhattan to reach its destination in time, with plenty of harrowing car and motorcycle races threaded throughout for action.
About the action. Scott long has been a director who relies on slick, quick-cut editing to drive his films, and that’s no exception here, particularly in the opening credits, which are so hyped up, they’re distracting to the point of being annoying. But eventually, the busy work being done in the editing bay is taken over by the movie, which absorbs the false sense of momentum rapid editing provides with real momentum propelled by the story and the characters themselves.
Grade: B
WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, DVD giveaways and movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.