Paranormal Activity Review
Sep 25, 2009 by Kofi Outlaw‘Scariest Movie Ever’ is a tall order to fill, but Paranormal Activity is definitely a serious fright flick that will continue to creep you out long after the movie ends.
Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Paranormal Activity
[Check out our Paranormal Activity 2 review]
Paranormal Activity is a little film that was reportedly made for $11,000 over the course of a seven-day shoot by writer/director/producer/editor Oren Peli, and stars newbies Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat and the couple’s camcorder.
The ghost story is pretty straightforward: Katie and Micah (the actors use their real names in the film) are a young couple who have been together for about a year or two and have recently taken the plunge of moving in together. Soon after, they begin to experience weird paranormal activity taking place in their home – lights and sinks turning on and off, doors slamming, etc. Katie soon reveals that this isn’t the first time she’s been “haunted by ghosts” – when she was 8, she had re-occurring visits from a shadowy apparition and her family’s home was eventually burned to the ground without explanation. Since then, the apparition has followed Katie wherever she goes, “visiting” her from time to time, up to the present. Micah wishes that Katie had told him all this BEFORE they moved in together.
Katie is freaking out about the reappearance of her ghostly stalker, but Micah (of course) is too MANLY to believe in such nonsense, so he invests in a top-grade camera, some top-grade mini microphones and sound recording software, in order to wire the house for a ghost-hunting experiment. Our POV is that of the camcorder and boom mic, as they record the paranormal happenings taking place in Katie and Micha’s home over the course of about three weeks.
That’s the setup, and it would be hard to go much deeper without dropping some major SPOILERS.
I can tell you that Katie and Micah bring in a psychic (Michael Bayouth) who determines that what they’re facing isn’t a ghost trying to establish communication, but rather a malevolent demon, hell bent (pun intended) on claiming Katie’s soul. The psychic tells Katie and Micah that they need to bring in a “demonologist” to help exorcise the evil spirit – only the guy is currently vacation, so they’ll have to wait it out. In the meantime, the psychic breaks down a few demon rules for the couple (and us) to understand:
- There is no running from it – leave the house and the spirit will only follow.
- The spirit feeds off negative energy (anger, fear, etc).
- Don’t do ANYTHING to enrage or attract the demon – especially buying a Ouija Board.
Of course, if you’ve ever seen a horror movie before you know that the rules are only there to be broken by doomed fools. Katie is all nervousness and pragmatism (“Honey, let’s just stop and ask for directions…”), but Micah, the skeptic, would rather “man-up” and handle things his own way (read: pacing the house, challenging the evil spirit to show itself). Smart idea.
The best horror movies are the ones that exploit our deep-seated anxieties about real-life events or situations. The Exorcist was every parent’s worst nightmare: their innocent child suffering a terrible affliction; Rosemary’s Baby played upon the high-anxiety of pregnancy and child-rearing; Hitchcock’s Psycho gleefully exploited the near-universal fear of random, unprovoked violence. Paranormal Activity will stand out for a long time in my mind (and I’m sure others) because it hits just the right panic buttons inside the brain: the familiar fear of the creaky, empty house at night – but more importantly, the high-anxiety of being in a relationship.
The latter theme is only subtly touched on, due to the nature of the POV (it would’ve stupid to have the couple record their dramatic fight moments), but that current is always on and running, coursing through the cinematic subtext. Anybody you partner with in life is bound to come with baggage – Katie’s baggage just so happens to be a freaky demon. Micah is portrayed as something of an alpha-male stereotype – brash and insensitive a lot of the time, you know the picture – but also as a guy who is genuinely trying to help his chick sort out all of the crazy in her past, so they can be happy together in the present. And, like real-life relationships, sometimes the best intentions…
Continue reading our Paranormal Activity Review
Our Rating:
4 out of 5
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I keep commenting on this movie becuase I was so dissappointed with it. Even if taken in the context of a home-made low budjet film, or perhaps even a student film project for a college course THIS MOVIE STILL FALLS SHORT for the following reasons; #1)It moves horribly slow. You would think with each additional encounter that the “activity” would increase double fold. Instead, for most of the entire movie the activity uses the same sounds, noises, bumps, over and over again to the point of sheer boredom. Because of this the movie could have benn edited down to a half hour and would have actually been much more effective while conveying the same feel. #2) when the boyfriend Micah finds Katie sitting outside at night she BARELY acts posssessed in ANY way..BAD ACTING – How about a few little demonic giggles,…maybe puke in his face..SOMETHING CREEPY AND SCARY..instead she just acts sleepy and says “leave me alone”…VERY, VERY, WEAK. #3) The ending of this film just has you watching the bedroom while all the “scaryness” goes on downstairs thus leaving your imagination to guess what is going on.–in fact the whole moview is like this–while this is an ok tactic for SOME of the movie I AM POSITIVE the audience would at least like to see SOMETHING…ANYTHING. They could have used a rubber knife and showed you her stabbing him, showed some sort of demon in shadow at least…SOMETHING to give this film ANY validity to value while still beign very low budjet. But no they don’t IN ANY WAY and therefore this movie is in fact a perfect example of HYPE with no SUBSTANCE. They fall short of using creativity in so many ways over and over again which could have actually made this moview at least viewable if not watchable. I feel like this was made by a fifth grader..no scratch that..a fith grader HAS MORE IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY. Don’t beleive the hype folks read real reviews like this before you become a sheeple and waste you money or ANY time on this weak film. It is really not worth your time and I guarantee you will be dissappointed. If they had at least shown you ANYTHING I would give it a C, instead I would give this moview a double F for FLAT-OUT FAILURE.
This was the worst movie I’ve ever seen.
I agree with those pointing out it’s nothing more than one of those youtube pranks one is tricked into watching where it seems like only a video of puppies or something— and then suddenly a still of Linda Blair from The Exorcist shrieks in your face. That takes 30-40 seconds to accomplish.
How did that film cost $11K? I guess they included their mortgage, insurance and property taxes within that figure (maybe toothpaste, too?). The Blair Witch Project was light years better than PA in every way, although the only reason it’s compared is because they are both presented as fake documentaries about something spooky. Get past that.
How anyone can think this is scary or in any way a good movie is beyond me. The “acting” was atrocious and the interaction between the characters was annoying as hell. I was so not scared that my mind wandered to guessing what San Diego neighborhood they were supposed to be in (Linda Vista? Penasquitos?) and what Katie weighed (130?) and what size jeans she wears (10?), why does she call him “mee-ka” when I’ve only heard that name pronounced “my-kah”?, where did they meet (Starbucks?)? why do they like each other?, is that a house or a condo?, etc.
When the footprints appeared in the powder I laughed out loud wondering if they were being haunted by Foghorn Leghorn. Other parts were downright stupid too. Like the Ouija board part..all of it. Right when they had a chance to make it somewhat interesting, it just fell from the story.
Although I hate being duped by the hype, I have to give a “well done!” to the marketing, the people who designed that really earned all of the box-office revenue, not the film makers or film itself. Rotten as it all is.
Reading CNN.com is more scary than this film — and it’s harder to figure if that is real or not. Ok, there is one moment that is startling at the end, but my cat does the same when she jumps around the corner or out of a closet.
To those who say “you just don’t get it”, I do get it. It’s hype in its best form. I’m not one of those types who needs gore to be terrified, I hate gore, in fact. I was HOPING to be scared out of my mind. Instead, it bored me until I got angry.
It’s just a bad film, period. If you are tempted to go see it anyway, I strongly suggest you just watch the trailer and be done with it. That’s better than it gets in the theater.
Very good movie! Really gets the blood pumping. Get’s down to the basic and primal fear of no being able to see what you are up against! Excellent!!
Hi,
Yeah, i saw this movie and thought it was brilliant. It seemed to me that every scene, sound flicker, and tiny line of dialog was near perfectly calculated. I found myself often filled with that cold haunting dread that i’ve experienced in life, as opposed that jolt of disgust, or fright that i teld to feel watching most horror movies. Maybe this is what made all of my fellow commenters so upset, they wanted a jolt and so they didn’t notice, or expect, or leave themselves open, to that creeping feeling that that crawls inside you and stays with you all night. I think this movie was a whisper that unless you actually shot yelling your criticisms at, you’ll miss. I guess that’s what happens when your used to going to she movies and getting hit with a mallet. Also, i feel that this is a communal movie, or at least one that is enhanced greatly when watched with others. Personally other people’s fear, tends to legitimize my own, even if it was just the tiniest of fears with everyone else feeling it too, it become more real. So maybe you shouldn’t have stolen the film online and watched it in theaters to hear the gentle whisper of this masterpiece of dread.
Wow… Somepeople take movies way too seriously! Movies aré for fun not for u to find everything wrong with it. Relax its just a movie.Plus u get out of the house
I REALLY liked this movie and I’m not sure why others did not. I like that it leaves things up to your imagination and has your eyes scanning the bedroom looking for anything to happen. I got chills several times. The other two people that went with me really enjoyed the movie too. I’d definitely recommend it to my friends.
Anyone who actually defends this movie is an IDIOT. I keep commenting on this sad waste of film because I was so dissappointed with it. I watch EVERTHING with an open mind. Even if taken in its context of a home-made low budjet film, or perhaps even a student film project for a college course THIS MOVIE STILL FALLS WAAAAYYY SHORT for the following reasons; #1)It moves horribly slow. You would think with each additional encounter that the “activity” would increase double fold. Instead, for most of the entire movie the activity uses the same bass sounds, noises, bumps, over and over and over again to the point of sheer boredom. Because of this the movie could have been edited down to a half hour and would have actually been much more effective while conveying the same feel and goal in fact it would have been much better that way. #2) When the boyfriend Micah finds Katie sitting outside at night she BARELY acts possessed in ANY way..BAD BAD, BAD ACTING FOLKS – How about a few little demonic giggles or maybe puke in his face..SOMETHING CREEPY AND SCARY..instead she just acts sleepy and says “wwaahh. leave me alone”…VERY, VERY, WEAK. #3) The ending of this film 9as is most of the film) just has you watching the bedroom while all the “scaryness” goes on downstairs thus leaving your imagination to guess what is going on –and in fact the whole moview is like this– and while this is an ok tactic for SOME of the movie I AM POSITIVE the audience would at least like to see SOMETHING…ANYTHING MORE TANGIBLE.
They could have used a rubber knife and showed her stabbing him. they could’ve showed some sort of demon in shadow at the very least at some point…just SOMETHING to give this film ANY validity of value while still being low budjet. But NO they don’t IN ANY WAY and therefore this movie is in fact a perfect example of HYPE with no SUBSTANCE.
If you like it then you need to ask more of your own insight folks. They fall waaaay short of using creativity in so many ways over and over and over again all of which could have actually made this movie at least viewable if not watchable.
I feel like this was made by a fifth grader..no scratch that..a fith grader HAS MORE IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY. Don’t beleive the hype folks read real reviews like this before you become a sheeple and waste you money or ANY time on this weak film. It is really not worth your time and I guarantee you will be dissappointed. If they had at least shown you ANYTHING of value I would give it a C, instead I can only give this movie a double F for FLAT-OUT FAILURE.
I concur with all the comments I have read regarding this movie. The word faeces does not do it justice and I lack the vocabulary to describe exactly how pathetic this film is. I walked out after the first hour after forcing myself to remain that long in the vain hope that it was going to get better. I left the theatre frustrated an upset that I had funded such a pathetic movie. Please do yourself a favour and do not encourage these people to continue to waste the general public’s time and money with such garbage. Good marketing however, – keeping the released clips down to a minimum otherwise no one would have bothered to show up.
Someone should start a petition to have audiences compensated for the waste of their time and money.
I just saw it and god. It was worse than the Blair Witch Project and I thought that was disappointing. I honestly didn’t expect much going in because the commercials didn’t show anything. Then it was a toss-up between Halloween II and this one. I made the wrong choice.
People in the audience screamed at some points and I was laughing at them, but the movie was not only not scary, it wasn’t even that amusing.
FFFFFF.
OMG what a disgrace to the movie biz. You might as well watch Dora and be more satisfied. Elmo is more scary than this movie. So just save your money and go buy Dora the Explorer season 1 and be just as scared.
I would rather watch two people drink urine and dump diareaha on eachother’s faces. I cannot believe that I wasted money to see this! WOW Just ridiculous…. I just cannot believe that it went to the theatres. they probably spent more money on the commercial previews to bring people to watch it than they spent on the entire movie! $$ doesnt mean everything, but it does in this regard… I am extremely upset that I contributed to their HUGE profits with my 18 dollars
This movie is a scam! Steven SpielBERG SHOULD BE ASHAMED to be associated with this “film”.
I suppose i am someone of a movie buff…a good movie comes out and i am usually one of the first to watch it. Well i was a little late seeing this one, but i just watched it this evening and omg. no words could describe my reaction. i LOVE scary movies. i even have techniques i use to keep me from jumping when i sense a scary part. woo. so why did this movie scare me???? i was fine the whole movie. i did like the suspense and how the appearances became more and more frequent and even more intense each night. oh and micah, you’re a douche. i was fine all the way until the last ten seconds. after that i was in HYSTERICS. wtf??? i cried/laughed for fifteen minutes straight. i have no idea what it was about this movie, but this one will definitely bug my brain for quite a while. props.
1. Blair Witch Project: Kick myself for spending money.
2. Cloverfield: Highly disappointed with time lost, but fortunate was someone elses money that paid for that trash.
3. Quarentine: Only reason went to see it was it had the actress who plays Dexters (the serial killer cop)sister. She is great on Dexter. Now I loath myself for wasting time and money on that trash.
4. Paranormal Activity: Fortunate again that someone else bought the burnt dvd (burnt copies are common in Middle Eastern deployed locations). I have come to the conclusion that the people that made this crap are brilliant. They lure idiots to the theaters and steal their money. Have these people moved to foriegn countries so they don’t get their @$$’s kicked? Well, I am off to produce my own film. Should only cost a few memory chips and time running around in the theater screaming at odd times to scare people that are watching this movie. Hmmmm…make money from a crap film already made and scare those people…then someone can mysteriously find (actually I will hand them to a friend) the memory chips after I have been severly beaten for actually scaring someone in a theater ……wow what a concept
Ugh, anyone who insults this movie is wrong in my opinion. I mean, there are 2 different types of scary. There’s the outright “shock” scary where something like jumps out and screams. Then there’s the sort of “creepy and building” scary where it’s very subtle, but builds over time, and is something that people think could happen to them. Thats what Paranormal Activity is. It’s a movie that uses really chilling and unexplainable events to scare people. I mean, what would happen if this stuff happened to you? You would be so terrified. The producers are just trying to put you in the couple’s shoes by using a sort of “home video camera” and making it seem real. So if you don’t like the “creepy” type of scary, than Paranormal Activity isn’t for you. But if you’re like me, you will love this movie.
I sincerely promote the illegal pirating of this piece of crap movie. Unfortunately…it won;t even fit that bill…because why would you even waste your time downloading this shart. The only thing i could think while watching this thing in the theatre last night was, ‘Am I really in a theatre with this many people getting ripped off on a movie that costed little over 10k to make. I also actually heard some people getting scared…of what….it’s friggin fake as hell. And it makes it hard to suspend disbelief when you know the intention is to make it look real. This is nearly the worst movie in history. Carp…crap…crap. I would use stronger language…but the movie is not worth it. The only thing worth while…is to write about how crappy it is…and hope I save someone from the experience. Did I mention that it sucks so wildly.
One last thing….you really do have to marvel at the fact that someone spent so little on this…and they are now just laughing thier way to the bank as the nation gets completely ripped off and hosed on this thing. It’s pure genius. I would have done it myself if I had recognized the fact that the majority of people are friggin stupid enough (self included). I have to learn that nothing ever lives up to the hype. Take the radio ad where the guy says…”If I do actually sleep tonight…I’ll probably have a nightmare”. LMAO…the only nightmare he would have is the one where he is paying for the movie again. TRASH. Can;t shout it from the rooftops loud enough. I will physically abuse any friend I know if they watch it. I want my time back. Even if I got my money back…I’d still feel cheated. I would have paid twice the amount to prevent this mistake.
TERRIBLE movie….I want to know how it made theatres!!! Not scary at all..just boring!I wouldn’t watch it again if someone paid me…seriously
This movie was seriously disappointing, I laughed the whole time verses being like whats next. didnt scare me one bit id of prefered watching saw 6 to this.
Relax people its just a movie ……I came on here to read some reviews and wow you guys make a story out of it…
very disappointing. boring and predictable. to me nothing stood out as being shocking,scary or even original. a real let down because of all the hype going around you expect more to happen. the plot was weak, the characters were flat and undeveloped making it hard to identify or sympathize with.
I agree with a lot of people who say it reminded them of ‘ghost hunters’….That may have been a big part of the inspiration.
However, GhostHunters is boring….because there are no ghosts. People watch ghost hunters for an hour and get a speck of dust or some distortion on a tape recorder. So if you’d want to see what ghost hunting would be like if ghosts were real, then you might enjoy the way it was done.
Like I said, I enjoyed it because they made a ghost story that seemed realistic.
Here is the funny part….Some people just like different kinds of movies!
RipTheWorld, get over it. Maybe we have different tastes. I dont think you are an idiot, but have different taste, ok, so relax.
Maybe you can give an example of the kind of horror movies you like so I can compare you taste with mine. Or better yet, what would be a movie that scares you? Too be honest, I’m an adult, so movies dont scare me…The best I can hope for is to be creeped out, as I think most people. I think the film was creepy, so it accomplished its mission.
Like I said, the thing I liked about the movie was that it made an evil ghost story that felt realistic, as if it could happen to you that night (and I dont believe in ghosts). I like the way it was ‘boring’ in many parts because real life is full of boring, and I would imagine a real haunting to be a lot of boring with little creepy things here and there. Nobody is going to go to bed thinking the zombies are coming or Freddy is going to get ya, but your door may creek a little or something, and I think that is what they were going for. I thought the movie did a good job at building up from a ‘footsteps in the dark’ kind of thing to the full on climax, without seeming too unrealistic.
And that is what I enjoyed about it. The story also left a lot up to the imagination. I actually want to get it on DVD, because I think there are little clues and stuff, which I dig.
If you are into that kind of stuff, you’ll enjoy the movie. If not, or you prefer shocker films, you will not.
I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!
I have no idea why you’re all bagging it
just cause it didnt have any great special effects!
it was great!
Paranormal Activity was one of the worst movies I have ever seen!!!!!!!!! There was nothing to it…..I was not suspenseful or scary. Oh did I mention the storyline…There was some hope there but that failed as well, the whole movie was predictable.. Actually it was very boring….Yes, there was a lot of anticipation but unfortunately it did not amount to anything.. In any case that is my opinion….
OK, I have to agree with some people that this movie was a waste of money. Most of the time it was just showing Katie freaking out and Micha trying to be all macho and Mr.I’ll-fix-it, but it did have it’s moments, like; when Katie was dragged out of bed, the night where it sounded like someone died in their house (In my opinion it sounded like Micha, fortelling future?) and the Theatre ending, not the one with the cops in the house. Other than that, you couldn’t tell Katie was possessed when she sat outside, the scene with the cruifix, WTH? And the lights going on and off in the closet and the bedroom nearest the closet, WTH? There’s nothing special in there, no one goes in there, all the action should be in the bedroom, living room and the kitchen what was up with that?! All and all I’d give it a 3/10. Sorry Stevie, but next time read the script then decide if you want to contribute to the movie or not.
Okay….I never do this…but I have to stress what most others already have. This movie is horrible. If you want to, I can take some clips from wwhite noise, blairwitch, and polteregeist and you would have this movie from the camcorders point of view. I was soooooo disappointed…I get scared easy and my friend knows that…haven’t seen a scary movie in years. My standars are low! I was not scared, I was bored, disappointed and just waiting for something to happen and all I got was sheets blowing…..woooooooow. Tip of the Day: Don’t waste your money!
This movie works if you are easily scared, hooked in from the get go, and forget all logic.
For instance, why would Katie allow Micah to sleep with the lights off after the first couple of occurances?
Having said that, like all horror/scary films, you have to forget all logic.
This films works definately as a rental.
Also, for a white girl she’s got a pretty nice butt.
Why is it people are stupid if they don’t like a movie you like, or vice versa? We (Screen Rant and other posters) keep stressing the fact that tastes vary on films and there’s no need to call people names just because they don’t like a film that you like. While I can see why someone would like this film, I can also see why others wouldn’t. This does not in any way reflect on the intelligence of the viewer. I’m sure most of you liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy; I know someone who has a PhD in physics who did not like it. Does that mean he is stupid? If you liked it, fine; if you didn’t like it, fine. Let’s stop with the insults, shall we.