by Kate Flaxx

Created on: October 21, 2010   Last Updated: October 25, 2010

Paranormal Activity was written, directed and produced by Oren Peli, a fairly unknown director at the time of the films making in 2007.

Kate Featherston and Micah Sloat are the two main actors in the film with appearances from Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong and Ashley Palmer.

Following the move to a new house, Katie (Featherston) and Micah (Sloat) experience some strange and unexplainable happenings.  Among strange noises and sounds come other unexplainable happenings such as belongings not being where they should.

As the story unfolds, it is revealed they have the presence of the demonic kind, a demonic presence that Katie has been familiar with since she was a child.

The movie opens with Micah and his video camera, a camera he brought and hooked up to capture the happenings in the house mostly in their bedroom.  The viewer sees everything through Micah’s camera from the frustrated and terrified Katie to the events that are captured through the movie.

Because the film is shot through Micah’s camera, there is realness similar to the Blair Witch Project.  Other parts of the film give the same creepiness and suspense similar to films like The Ring or The Grudge.

Paranormal activity offers the viewer a spine tingling and suspenseful experience.  The actors were convincing in their roles enough to leave the viewer asking if the film was actually real and wether the events captured on tape were actual events captured on tape. 

This film definitely belongs in the horror genre more so because the viewer is kept in the dark.  The phrase ‘fear what you cannot see’ applies when watching this movie. The film delivered on the horror genre without the need to include parts of explicit blood and gore.

Paranormal Activity did have some negatives.  Knowing more about the characters would have been good.  Although the viewer got some information about Katie and Micah; this was usually in snippets and could have been easily missed by the person watching the movie.

Although the main concentration of the film was the handling of the situation of the demonic presence by Katie and Micah, the viewer didn’t get to see the characters anywhere else but in the house and mostly in bed.  It made the characters look like they spent a lot of their time in bed and didn’t really do anything else during their day.

Also, the film may have raised a few questions for the viewer.  An outline of the past of Katie would have been really helpful.  Some parts of the film were of importance to the story and the person watching the film may have thought these important points were not explained.

The scare factor in this film is very high, so high that your bed will be the last place you want to be.  This scare and surprise factor is only accentuated with the fact that part of what's happening happens in the dark.

Paranormal activity is a movie for fans of the creepy and unknowing side of horror.  If you like to guess at what’s going to happen or like to be on the edge of your seat with anticipation; then you will enjoy this film. 

Just as a word of caution, if you don’t usually watch this type of film, you should watch Paranormal Activity with at least one person otherwise you will fall asleep in your armchair….that’s if you sleep at all… and might not go near your bed for a little while.

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