Most people in the show business would scoff at the thought that an indie movie with a humble USD$10 000 budget could scrape up millions of dollars worldwide. Well, Paranormal Activity has proven them wrong. This movie had gained its popularity via Facebook and Twitter after word had gone out that highly respectable director Steven Spielberg had gotten spooked out by it - to the point that he actually bagged the DVD and tossed it in the garbage can. From there, the Internet community began petitioning for this movie to screen internationally. Finally, after one million signatures (no, really) and a couple of months later, Paranormal Activity has reached to our shores.

In a nutshell, Paranormal Activity revolves around a couple, Katie and Micah who are trying to catch the haunting of a 'demon' on tape in order to put an end to it. The film starts at a snail's pace with an introduction of the aforementioned loving couple who have just moved into a new house. The mischievous boyfriend, Micah, decides to handle this monster himself, armed with only a newly bought video camera, his computer and later on, a borrowed ouija board. Even after a handful of visits and warnings from the 'ghost expert' a.k.a. the psychic, Micah stubbornly continues with his project, turning a deaf ear to all the warnings and pleading from Katie. This, of course, provokes the demon even more, who then grows stronger and stronger as it feeds on 'hatred' (as quoted from the psychic man himself). And from there, the note-worthy thriller scenes begin.

Now on paper, the synopsis of the movie sounds awful and you'd be thinking, "Bah, it can't be that scary." But trust me - and the other thousands of viewers, mind you - when I say it is. Of course, this movie doesn't make sense once you think it through, but it doesn't matter because you will definitely be shaken up after watching the movie. Switching off your lights is not an option, believe me. The thought that an evil thing could be lurking close by can trouble even the most macho of people. The freakiest scenes of the film would be playing on repeat in your head.

Even though the audio effects were of average ranking, which only featured a recording of the demon (it's indescribable, to sum it up), the visual effects played an important role for this movie. Rather ingenious, in my opinion, given that this movie did not come from Hollywood. Among the plausible scenes was the one with Katie suddenly dragged backwards or with footprints mysteriously appearing, or even when the 'creature' crawled under the sheets of the sleeping pair and threw off the blankets.

Like many other movie reviews have mentioned, this movie is definitely jump-out-from-your-seat scary. Its mockumentary style gives the film a more realistic edge (does Blairwitch Project ring a bell?), what with its grainy film effect, especially since it was recorded during the night. Don't forget that its suspense-tinged presentation was what earned this film myriads of praises. The actress (Katie Featherson) did a marvelous job with her role as the troubled, haunted girlfriend-turned-possessed victim of an unknown demon. This was clearly shown towards the end, when she looked directly at the camera with an evil grin that could really shake a person up (guilty as charged). Lets not push aside the actor (Micah Sloat), who made the movie vibrant with his impeccably good-slash-bad timing for his immature (and at times, rather colourful) jokes.

Now the bad thing about this movie is, like I said, off-the-charts' freaky. There is no gradient to pinpoint the eeriness of the movie. I would salute the person who would be able to get a good night's rest after watching Paranormal Activity because trust me when I say that that feat is close to impossible. (No worries, though. This would wear off in two to three days' time) Don't be alarmed if a person in the audience starts bursting out in tears midway through the movie. I don't exactly blame him/her. However, one of the things that could put off this movie for a person was the script. Although dialogue is key for the somewhat thin story line, the dialogue by itself was rather tedious and hardly grabbed the audience's attention.

Needless to say, its title as Best Horror Flick of 2009 was well-deserved, in my opinion. Who cares about a bland script when it's packed with spine-chilling scenes like the moving ouija board or - my personal favourite - the aforementioned conspicuous bump appearing underneath the blankets? This is a solid A-grade horror movie, independent movie or not. If you're a true blue horror movie buff, this is definitely a movie you cannot miss!