Paranormal Activity a hit in the US

MANILA, Philippines - It’s saving the best for the closing decade as Paranormal Activity hits local screens to scare Filipino moviegoers like never before. Even Steven Spielberg felt haunted by the sleeper hit that won’t make anyone sleep.

The movie became America’s No. 1 just on its third week as it is now hailed as one of the scariest of all time, with its impact on audiences being compared to that of classics Psycho, Jaws, and The Blairwitch Project during their run in the past decades.

Written, edited and directed by first-timer Oren Peli, the film, which debuted at Screamfest to surprising reception, is now the toast among horror movie fans and critics around the globe.

The project took its roots back at Peli’s home during a seven-day shoot sprint in 2006. Featuring convincing acting from Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong and Ashley Palmer, the indie-overachiever shows a middle-class couple residing in a suburban tract house who is being disturbed by a creepy thing that becomes active in the middle of the night.

Locally distributed by Viva International Pictures, Paranormal Activity opens nationwide on Dec. 2.