MOVIE REVIEW
Paranormal Activity (2009)
Fantastic Fest
The escalating phenomenon that is “Paranormal Activity” carries with it a double-edged sword that sharpens with each additional sold-out show. Made three years ago, writer-director Oren Peli’s debut — a cinema verité take on the old haunted-house motif — has been bubbling into a lava-pool full of hot and bothered horror critics since its initial 2007 film-festival rounds. After a year’s worth of grassroots buzz-building, the film was picked up by Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks this past January. Lame-brained plans to remake Mr. Peli’s product were wisely ditched, leading to an underground wave of midnight screenings that kicked off late September. Its extremely limited run of midnight-or-later screenings has already brought in upwards of $535,000 for the $15,000-costing film, prompting Paramount Pictures to formally open the the company’s scrappy little cash calf in more markets — and at all hours — this weekend.