Not-so-normal Activity

I've hardly been as satisfyingly freaked out in my life more so than I am right now. Lets back this story up a little bit.

A few years ago, my now roommate Chappell and a good friend of mine Cory decided to check out Paranormal Activity in theaters. With little trepidation we gathered our necessities, purchased our tickets, found ourselves seats and plumped down to what would ultimately be the weirdest night of our lives. As the movie rolled on, I noticed each of our hoodies seemed to climb a little further over our faces. Somewhere along the way, we had convinced ourselves it was real footage, and this was terrifying. I'm one who loves the thrill of a good spooky movie, but it had been years (probably around seeing Jurassic Park or my first glimpse of The X-Files when I was no older than a toddler) since I had felt quite so jittery from a movie. In recent years, I have become more and more open to the idea of the supernatural and that movie really creeped a nerve. Even after the movie was over, the three of us went back to what is now my house, but the movie seemed to follow. All of my senses were running in overdrive, my hearing as acute as I could ever imagine it to be. Every creak, rustle, light waver, seemed to emanate with an energy beyond whitenoise. Cory and myself popped outside on the back deck for a smoke, while Chaps mulled around inside. After a few minutes, there was a small thump in the garage behind where we stood, followed by what sounded like a cupboard door shut inside. Chaps bolted to the back door asking us if we had heard the noise. The three of us stood silent for a few minutes before going back inside. Everything seemed to subside from there.

A while later, another movie seemingly in the same vein, Insidious, was in theaters. Again, we gathered our things, Chaps adding a large bag of popcorn to the fray this time 'round, purchased our tickets, found our seats and plopped down, this time with a little heightened anticipation. Once again, the movie did not disappoint, with Darth Maul even making a harrowing appearance. The afterhours however, were not quite so adventurous (perhaps beyond Chaps somehow driving a good stretch clean down the center of the sidewalk).

Fastforward to tonight. After an episode of the Files (and a bit of an eerie one at that), Chaps and myself decided it was about time we pulled up Netflix and finally got around to watching Paranormal Activity 2. Best worst idea we have ever had. Lights out, sound up, Robs door closed, we started. Going into it, I had some hesitation as to whether it would pack quite the punch the first one had. It packed and it punched. Another gem of a movie done in much the same fashion, but far from redundant or predictable. Just the smooth, gradual build up, and the believability of these movies chills my marrow. In the most warming fashion possible. So here we sit, wide awake at five am, gearing up to watch The Fourth Kind. Thank you October.

cheers.