Paranormal Activity

Every so often an incredibly low budget film will come along that becomes a huge success. Normally it is someone using their handicam to film a realistic story. This year it is 'Paranormal Activity'. I will begin by warning you that this review will feature some spoilers so if you want to see it uninhibited then do not read on until after you have seen the film.

This movie left me confused and baffled. As many of you know the film is enjoying huge success in the USA at the moment. It was because of this that I was interested in seeing the film and had fairly high expectations. How wrong I was. For me this is the worst film I've seen so far this year. I do not understand how it has become as successful as it has. It is not in the least bit frightening or scary, except maybe the last shot of the film. But even then that does not make up for the boredom that came before it. Virtually nothing even remotely spooky happens. A couple of bumps and some moving furniture are not scary. I think there should have been more of what happened in the final shot throughout the film as it would have made it scarier. There are a couple of moments where the girl Katie gets up in the middle of the night and moves around supposedly possessed but it only looked like she was sleep walking. She needed to maybe threaten her boyfriend during these sleepwalking moments. That's probably the big problem with it. I felt no sense of menace or threat against the couple. I did not feel their life was in danger so I only felt incredible boredom at having to watch them sleep, see furniture move and hear a few bumps. Even without menace the film's director Oren Peli has not been able to create a spooky or creepy atmosphere at all. While the couple we are watching obviously look scared I did not feel it myself as an audience member. There were several points where I almost walked out of the film but my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to find out how it was going to end.

The acting in the film is pretty ordinary. The couple spend most of the film asleep so not much is required. Katie Featherston is quite good, but I really hated Micah Sloat as her boyfriend. I found his character incredibly annoying and was the reason I almost walked out. Mark Fredrichs as the Psychic was pretty bad too with his second scene being unintentionally funny.

I think the worst thing about the success of the film has been that there is going to be a sequel. Generally I'm willing to accept a film being successful as I can usually find a reason for it and understand its success. But I just don't get it with this film. It is this confusion that has made me hate it as much as I have. Its success has made me hate it even more.