Most viewers after watching the movie have confessed that their first move was to google the movie on the net and find out about the "truth" behind the documentary. The populist vote is that it is in fact, just a film made carefully to look like a documented tape that was found after the protagonist was sucked into the mysterious paranormal world- a revelation some find comforting and some disappointing.
There are a lot of ghost-hunters who derive thrill from wandering into the realm of the paranormal and love their encounters there. They surely must be disappointed with the truth of the movie being false. However there are the set who find it extremely comforting to know that the movie is not real. I do not know which set of people will draw up a bigger circle on any Venn diagram, but i sure do know that i belong to the latter set. I am no taker of horror movies.
But what makes Paranormal such a hero in its genre? It too is a horror movie, it too has the unknown racking havoc into the lives of its victim and it too does not spare its viewer a calm breath. If anybody read the script of the movie without have seen it, it would end up as a run-of-mill haunted house movie to them; probably even a poor one. However, icons like Steven Spielberg have proclaimed this to be one of the most daunting horror movies of the recent times. So, what does this movie do that steals the show so well?
Firstly, i think that the idea of giving the movie a documentary feel instead of a regular edited movie look was an extremely clever idea. Then allowing the protagonists use their real names as their reel names gave it a very real feel too. Thirdly, siting dedications in the name of the lead cast tricked you into believing the authenticity of the documentary. However, the nail in the coffin (of course combined with all the clauses mentioned above) was to deliberately leave the paranormal activity headless- without a face. This way no one knew WHAT was wrecking their peace; but they knew it was destructive enough to be scared to shit from.
Most horror movies are psychological thrillers that know the human psyche so well that they just corner the viewer into this dark unknown place like a mindtrap. However, Paranormal can crown a feather in its cap because it has successfully reaped benefits from one of the very basic human psyche- fear of the unknown. Movies which show scary ghosts, children, flying witches etc are unbearable- no doubt. But leaving the ghost headless just pushes the viewer into a whirlwind of anticpiation, horror and endless sweat! This, I feel is one of the queerest human trait that sets us apart- the unknown scares us more than the known. Sensing the presence of a flying ghost is more scary than bumping into one. A witch running towards you is less scary than the thought of it standing behind the door waiting. The unknown, unseen and un"felt" scare us more than the truth. For us, thought is scarier than the truth. We are more at ease if we see things, find the truth behind it and unravel the mysteries rather than having an unexplainable phenomenon around us. We, as humans, are shit scared of the unknown and cant bear to live in its realm. I guess this justifies our quest to know more about the universe, the life forms around us, nature's laws and all that mystifies us. It explains the millions of dollars that pumps researchers to understand the unknown and push it in the comforting category of the known. The more we know, the more we want to find out.
Why is it so? Why cant we bear to live in a little bit of ignorance? Is it because we are the smartest race on earth or at least, we think ourselves to be? Is it because, we feel, it is on our shoulders to unravel the mysteries of the universe? Why are unknowns always sucked up into some form of superstition, mystery or marvel; waiting for science to come and reveal the truth?
I dont know the answer to this human behaviour. Some call it curiosity, some call it human nature. I, for once, want to let it be. The unknown has its own humbling feeling that makes us realise that we are not the Almighty. I like the mystical unknown.
well analysed!
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