The Breakdown: After a young couple experiences some potentially paranormal activity (Title Drop), Micah decides to buy a camera, and begins documenting their houses strange occurrences.
Watch If: You're a budding horror fan, or your watching scary movies with someone who scares super easily.
Not If: You have developed a taste in horror.
SECONDARY FACTS
Overall Rating: 2.0/5
Length: 1:26
Language: English
REVIEW
THE QUICK AND DIRTY
Paranormal Activity is everything wrong with the found footage sub-genre. It's boring and predictable, go watch Grave Encounters instead.
PREMISE: 2
There was no work done for this story at all. A young couple are being haunted. They buy a camera. They make things worse. They argue. That's it. That's the story. There's no creativity, no originality.
ACTING: 3
Katie Featherston does a phenomenal job acting in this. Her fear and anger portrayals are so realistic and relatable, to a degree where at a few moments, I wondered if perhaps the film crew simply hadn't warned her about what was going to happen next. However, when you have a film that builds an exposé around an isolated couple, you need both lead actors to perform at the same lever, good or bad, and Featherston blew away her Co-star, leaving them with little on-screen chemistry and making the already poorly written character of Micah appear even worse in contrast.
VISUALS: 3
It's a regular, run of the mill found footage film. Paranormal Activity doesn't try to be fancy with unnecessary effects, and instead relies on simple, creepy practical effects. Doors slamming, blankets moving, that kind of thing.
ATMOSPHERE: 1
I remember when this movie came out, and their entire advertising platform had it labeled as incredibly scary. But having seen it again in recent days, I can't help but wonder why. There's nothing tense or engaging about the film, Micah is annoying and a terrible boyfriend, any creep factor in the film subtleties is lost in the scene by scene repetition and the watered down jump scares that might have been scary in a dark, booming theater, but when translated to the small screen have zero actual intimidation factor. Above anything else, it's boring.
DELIVERY: 1
I have seen a lot of Found Footage films. Hell, this entire month is dedicated to them. And I'm not going to lie, a lot of them are garbage. But Paranormal Activity really paved the way for mediocrity in found footage. It was a simple premise that was super cheap to make that everyone was talking about despite it having no actual substance. If you've seen this one, of intend to, please, don't let it stop you from finding those few good gems among this generally shit sub-genre. There are good found footage films out there. Don't let the blockbuster bottom-of-the-barrel convince you otherwise.
Starring
Written By: Oren Peli
Director: Oren Peli
Executive Producers: Steven Schneider
Cinematography: Oren Peli
Make Up Head: Crystal Cartwright