Paranormal Activity

The climax is deliciously scary, and Peli gets considerable mileage from the simple matter of lights inexplicably going on in another room.

It illustrates one of my favorite points, that silence and waiting can be more entertaining than frantic fast-cutting and berserk f/x. For extended periods here, nothing at all is happening, and believe me, you won't be bored.

It's this feeling of vulnerability that Peli's slow-burning supernatural chiller so effectively exploits, fashioning heart-stopping scares out of almost nothing.

Though it never poses a question more abstract than "Where's that scratching sound coming from?" Paranormal Activity is all about spiritual and ethical debts coming due.

Peli is to be congratulated for pulling off such an audacious project, but he needs a sharper sense of timing: The film's pacing is uneven, which weakens the suspense.

Like legendary producer Val Lewton in the '40s, director Oren Peli, who shot Paranormal in seven days in his own home, understands that what's most frightening is what you don't see but merely suggested.

A fresh coat of paint applied to an impressively old-fashioned ghost story.

Fun as a communal experience in a crowded theater. Scary? Not that often.

Peli teases the audience expertly. Scenes remain silent and still; not for long, but long enough to make you sweat. The terror of anticipation and its abrupt release, particularly in the final scene, is exhilarating.

It'll take quite some time to recover before you can sleep soundly without wondering if you're really alone in the room.

A suburban couple mess with dark spirits in the effective low budget chiller.