“You cannot run from this. It will follow you. It may lay dormant for years. Something may trigger it to become more active and it may over time reach out to communicate with you.”

This is a quote from the movie Paranormal Activity. The quote is spoken by a psychic, Dr. Fredrichs, to the owners of the home, Katie and Micah. The source of the quote, has credibility since it is said by a ‘Doctor’. As for syntax, the first two sentences are choppy, basic statements, and the simplicity combined with its dark message amplifies its scariness. The thought of something following you wherever you go is terrifying and disrupts one’s sense of security. The wording of the second sentence is very vague. “It MAY lay dormant for years” and “something MAY trigger it”, uses uncertainty to cause uneasiness about everything that the characters do, and “communicate” could mean communicate in violent or horrifying ways. This tells us about the development of the story in that anything seems to be possible. Given that it is a horror film, that essentially foreshadows the horror to come. There are effectively no restrictions and no boundaries on what can happen. It gives off an eerie vibe and thus an ominous tone. Although it is a horror film, it is still impossible to totally discount everything in the movie- it is so real. The perspective of the movie is through a camera’s lens which is a neutral bystander and does not react to subtlety horrifying changes in the environment if the humans don’t know about it.