With a mere $15,000, Oren Peli has crafted a horror film that is scaring audiences across the country. The movie has very little blood or violence; it's old-school horror at its finest that relies on camera tricks, creative effects and a slow build-up of dread that culminates to an ending so scary, I literally had to catch my breath.

All of the events take place in a single house where the characters Katie and Micah reside. After Micah discovers his girlfriend, Katie, has had a demon following her since the age of eight, he buys a digital camera and sets it up every time they go to sleep. This movie documents all the events that take place within a 20-day period.

So what is it that makes "Paranormal Activity" different from all of the other recent horror films in the last few years? The two main differences are the believable characters and the slow build-up of suspense. For the first 20 minutes or so, there are no supernatural occurrences. We merely see the couple eating dinner or discussing the demonic spirit that's been disrupting their sleep. Because of these dialogue-heavy scenes and the fact that Peli had all of his actors improvise their lines, the audience really gets a sense that they are real characters.

The performances from the two leads are fantastic. Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat – who both play characters bearing their own names – react believably to every situation and I got a sense that they were a real couple who had been together for a number of years.

After all the set-up is finished, Peli sets his sights on getting under the audience's skin. He does this by incorporating a slow, steady build-up of terror. But night after night, the demon gets steadily worse, and the audience is left in anticipation, never knowing what will happen next. It is this anticipation that makes the movie scary. If the movie went for the jugular early on, it would fall flat. Imagination is almost always scarier than reality, and Peli has a great understanding of that concept.

There are also no musical cues, which are common in many other horror films. I never knew where to look, which forced me to look everywhere; I never knew what was going to happen next.

There have been horror films that have scared me for a longer portion of the film, but I have never been more scared of a movie than I was during the last five minutes of this film. I flew back against my seat with a shriek, and I actually had to catch my breath. It has to be one of the best endings to a horror movie I have ever seen. The best way to describe "Paranormal Activity" is that it hits you with jabs. It weakens you. Then, when you're at your most vulnerable, it delivers a knock-out punch to the face, then pounds you in the gut until you can no longer breathe. In short, Paranormal Activity will rock you, and I'd advise not seeing it before you go to bed.

- Patrick Bales is a senior in elementary education. Send comments to edge@spub.ksu.edu