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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Wow…did I see the same movie as you?
I’m with Lance and notsoscareddude
hmmm…it waz a gud movie…ending scenes were gud..hey answer me sumthn z it a real story or jus a movie???????
i heard dat its a real story n she waz killed n murdered da hero,,, z it true????????
or it waz jus a movie…n z katie alive??????
I was really excited about seeing this movie, and it did not disapoint. i cannot understand anyone saying it was a bad movie, or that the acting was bad. This film was superb and very unnerving. I’m actually shocked to read that anyone disliked, let alone this many people. To all who enjoy a good scare……this is a must see movie and I will certainly be purchasing this on DVD.
chris1988:
ALL of use kept waiting for the scare…..LOL it never came!!!!!!!!!
Again I’d like to reiterate how god awful this movie was. Its designed to scare chubby, middle-class college student girls with boring lives. God that part where she got dragged out of the bed had me rolling! 0 out of 5 stars.
Boring! The only fun thing about the movie was the screaming girl behind me in the theatre. No suspense/climax. Trailer shows the only exiting things that happen in the movie. And even those moments were boring.
Nice concept, bad movie.
I love to watch horror movies, really. The movie has very slow phasing, has a lot of fillers and DID NOT meet my expectations. So disappointing.
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I want my money back! This movie sucks! Paranormal Activity is the worst movie I’ve ever watched in my entire life! Believe me! Don’t waste your money!
Our brother let us barrow this movie, thank god we didnt pay for it, he told us he was about to cry, i was all ready to be scared…
Nothing! Ever! Came!!!
Horrible…
Simply Horrible
I was starting to get into it as the unexplained phenomenon which happens to the couple has happened to myself and others I know of, I could feel it starting to make me more paranoid and start to re-kindle my childhood fear of the dark and what lurks within… that was until the ouija board spontaneously combust and the whole thing started to get abit farfetched. I particulary found the part where it walked in the bedroom and darted out & closed the door when they woke up hilarious, lol was it scared to be seen or something?
In any normal situation by the time they saw the tape with the ouija board spontaneously combusting any sane person would run out the house, down the road screaming their head off and never come back.
Overall i’d say it was scary tbh, i wouldnt say that after the film ended but i do when laid in bed with the lights off
Well, its all about Film FX, demon and ghost cannot bite or touch human being, its God’s Law. They can only let you know that they are there, hear, site senses are involve but not the sense of touch.
God’s Law? Neither ‘God’ nor ‘Demons’ exist – that is why it is a ficticious horror movie.
It was good to watch with a few friends though.
@Chris
And how, definitively, do you know that?
Vic
This movie I feel contains one of the most disturbing and spine-chilling sequences ever shown on screen, The scene were Katie is dragged out of bed and down the corridor screaming, the door shutting behind her. This low-budget film is so effective because it plays on a time when people our unconscious about whats happening around them, when there asleep. For all we know something could be moving our covers around each night or walking up next to us… Dare you to record your bedroom in the night?!
I went with my 15 year old son to see this last night. In front of sat several teenage girls. They laughed at it, I almost fell asleeep and my son asked me if I had any needles in my pocket as sticking pins in his eyes would be more enjoyable than the film. This movie was a load of old rubbish. I have see scarier stuff on Childrens BBC…..
I travelled further a field to see this film on the night of its release (25th Nov) to a small run down cinema on the Isle of Weight, as my local cinema was not showing this film, much to my disappointment! My expectations were high; however this film met that and more. ‘Paranormal Activity’ is the most frightening film I have seen, (and I have seen quiet a few!)It left me sitting in suspense and awe throughout. When I arrived home I found that I was unable to sleep! If you are a horror fan this is going to be your cup of tea! Go and see!
I went on my own to see this film, just to get that added buzz. It kept me gripped all the way through. People were laughing at times, but it was obviously through nerves! Those who say they hadn’t been slightly nervous are just too chicken to admit a slight fear. I’ve watched all the horror/paranormal films there are and this was the only one that kept me holding my breath! Great film considering its’ cost.
This movie was the best horror movie of all time. It doesn’t tap into the blood and gore generation which people nowadays count as horror, but the fear of the unknown and what happens when you aren’t looking, set in the place where you are supposed to be the safest: your home. I like the lasting effect the movie has on your psyche, caused by thinking about what may happen when you yourself are asleep; if there are actually “demons” roaming your house and moving things etc. It taps into your instinctinve fear of being in that situation personally, due to the fact your seeing it from the 1st person POV (which wasn’t even really disrupted by shaky cameras like Cloverfield which made my head hurt after a while). I also really liked the fact that the action escalated throughout (although i have to admit it moved a bit too slow before something actually happened that made me sit up and pay attention) Finally the fact that you don’t get to see the “creature” means that you can let your imagination run riot trying to figure out what exactly is going on and what it wants, as well as adding to the fear that is caused by not knowing and what will happen. So in the end this movie is great and terrifying if you have an imagination and are curious about the unknowable but not so if you aren’t good at tapping into you imagination or if you go and expect the entire story to be spoon-fed to you like so many repetitive movies these days
@Vic
He can’t answer that because he’s just here to try and start an argument. We can’t prove God exists but he can’t disprove Him either.
Ali, I couldn’t have put it better myself! Who is seriously going to be freaked out long after the likes of Saw, Halloween, Friday 13th etc etc. Good for a quick scare but Paranormal Activity just got right under my skin and left me petrified lying in my own bed at night! I think if, like me, you have had paranormal experiences happen to you in your home, then you will really get this movie. Good and evil most certainly DO exist, take it from one who knows!!
This film is very overrated. Maybe it’s just got to the stage where horror films are just not scary anymore. At the end of the film I was very disapointed, and the feeling seemed to be mutual with other cinema goers.
Boring boring film!!
This is a really scary movie and I suggest you don’t watch it alone.
You may need counselling afterwards if you are a nervous person.
St Johns ambulance and medics are available in most theaters to attent to suicidal persons or persons who faint.
This is as nearly scary as the twins Jedward winning the 2009 x factor final
Well I’ve seen a fair few horror flims in my time and I have to say this was one of the worst I was bored for most of it and I know it was low buget but really the scene where katie was dragged from the bed was shot in reverse and then edited in to make it look as if she had no control but hell i did have a good giggle with a friend at the arugment scenes I think horror flims are getting ether just stupidly gory or just daft bring back the older style and i’m only 22 !!!!!!
I was warned not to watch this film on my own, but I did!! Had all the lights off in the room and 2 candles lit….was falling asleep until about 20 mins in to the film. Very slow start!! I am now left petrified and was 2 scared to go into my kitchen and top my wine glass up ha ha I also have a loft at the top of my stairs, outside my bedroom so that is freaking me out too. The part where she gets dragged out of bed screaming is the worst!!
Just watched this film on my own at 3 in the morning. I am now scared to death. By far the scariest film I have ever watched as it lets the imagination run riot. I am not going to sleep tonight.