Paranormal Activity

Really scared me, i couldnt sleep for a week lol make sure you watch it in the dark, all cosy on the settee but not alone lol.

Very realistic - Loved the filming style. Not one to watch if you're returning to an empty house.

As with any horror flick from the US I found Paranormal Activity to be a good film but not as scary as the hype (Rec is far more terrifying). The premise of a "true story" taken only from the video camera found police is now a well tested genre (Blair Witch, Cloverfield) and the effect used in the film are clever. If the objective of the sometimes plodding storyline was to lull the viewer into a false sense of security before more big bangs and scares then it worked.

The ending feels like it comes from nowhere and is way superior to the alternative ending that you can watch in the DVD extras. I had some niggles however; the boyfriend was unsympathetic in his treatment of what was obviously a very traumatic matter for his girlfriend. Also they took their sweet time in really contacting anyone to help them with the issue. I'd have been straight on the internet Googling the heck out of it. I can see a sequel which would possibly ruin the allure that this film had in the same way Blair Witch 2 did.

If you're going to watch this then do so on a dark rainy night with the lights turned off to make the most of the little psychological moments.

I love horror movies, so this was a great one for me! It was scary and fun too. A bit boring at times (in the middle when it got a bit stagnant) but the ending was worth waiting for! i mean, there have other more boring horror movies that you just get irritated by, but this wasn't one of those.

fun to watch while you're with friends, in a dark room, with pizza! :)

The film took a while to get to the good bits. Great for scaring children and my boyfriend, although I didnt find it all that scary.

Loved how they made it look real, didnt love the rather iffy plot.

I had wanted to watch Paranormal Activity for quite some time. I noticed it was out on DVD, so grabbed myself a copy.

Settling down to watch it with some friends, we were all aware of the hype, but kept an open mind.

Scary? Tense? Thrilling? Yes! All of the above. I watch a lot of movies, and horror is one of my favourite genres. I wasn't disappointed with this movie.

Story was pretty simple, a nice enough couple living in a flat, and the girl is pretty much being stalked by "something". Everything is filmed on camcorder aka Blair Witch style (but not so jerky).

I have to say, we were all gripped from start to finish. Even a week later we said there were times when we all felt a little spooked when on our own at home.

All in all a great watch! Grab some mates, pull the curtains, switch the lights off and turn the sound up loud! Thoroughly recommended.

An inspired pine-chiller cam cord movie. Some genuinely chilling moments but definitely over hyped.I enjoyed this movie, but I expected from the reviews for it to be more frightening than it actually was. There's some brave parts in the plotting. The movie starts out slow, it has two protagonists one who's a believer [Katie], the other who's a natural cynic [Micah].

My conclusion is in tick offs to your preference:

> Worth a rental? I'd say yes.

> Frightening? probably no.

> Inspired? Kinda but it's relatively well researched in the world of psychic trance and possession.

> Dumb but believable characters ratio? Well acted and without having too much of a false epic story thrown in. One is a bit egocentric, the other scared and kinda speaks sense. A good mix and for the whole part they have good characterisation. One can pick up from most parts in the movie without a huge back story. It's simple and ingenious in that way!

> Ending predictable: 80% chance you'll guess what'll happen.

> I liked the end scene but the cheese factor at that time was moving more than the EMF detector!

---------------- OUTLINE ----------------

If you're not a real big follower of horror movies and like the CAM genre it's been done WORSE elsewhere. I still hold that Cloverfield is darker.

Slowly a plot unfolds [a pace akin to Blair Witch]. Katie is being followed by something that isn't a Ghost and slowly she falls under the influence of a supernatural entity during the night. They invite a psychic detective to help them. He's pretty useless to be honest, but recommends a demon specialist to help them. They procrastinate [for reasons better left to themselves].

------------- DEMON OR SOMETHING ELSE???? -----------------

Still, it's unsure if the being is a poltergeist or a demon. The movie hints at a demonic influence. I'd put my money on this as well. There's no smell or coldness in the house, so this has been missed out on purpose, budget or differentiation. There's some cool parts where you catch the footsteps of the creature in talc, suggesting it has some corporeal form and some lost items being found in the house from a past event where all items had been destroyed. I liked the shadow caught on the door at one point. The action though seems to be focused on certain parts of the room. Other movies, like Cloverfield prefer moving the center of attention to different places.

------------------ ACTING OVERVIEW -----------------

The acting on the whole isn't overacted to a cam. For this reason I give it the thumbs up. It's less overacted than .REC for example that uses cheap tricks like loud sound to get you to jump. I liked it as it's an invasion into a property that is seen as safe [other than a building invaded by monsters/zombies or a mad axe killer].

--------------- PACING -----------------

The movie builds up a slow but not really foreboding pace to presences. The cam picks up Katie's influence under the demon at night. The male protagonist starts to jibe at the demon whereby its power and influence over her picks up to an unusual end.

The GREAT part is Katie's swaying which is in LINE to all forms of trance and possession. When the demon gets into bed with the couple and ermm.. exits the bed with one of them is a great bit and probably the most frightening. I guess done with a green screen. That part for me was the most ingenious.

Like Blair Witch, we're given an interpretation and a warning from previous demonic possessions. Probably the ouija board communication was a bit weak, but I guess it's better than having blood or writing in mirrors.

Of all the horror movies I watched so far, Paranormal Activity definitely proves to be different. With its actors and quality of the movies, it seems to be realistic, and this has an impact on the audience. it seems to add a little more to the scare. Its a slow movies about a couple who have close encounters with a demon, and in order to ward it away, decide to catch it on the camera, but unfortunately, neither of them know what their dealing with. it has a good story line, and there are some very good jumpy scenes and with a freaky climax, the movie is overall well packaged. people who are frequent watchers of horror movies, may find it a waste of time, but for those who don't watch much, it's definitely a have-to-watch.

I was aware of this film from the hype in the US, and couldn't wait for it to open in the UK. I recently got a chance to see it, and I wasn't disappointed. It's amazing how tense the film was, given the fact that it's all filmed in one house, with the majority of the scenes filmed in the bedroom, showing spooky happenings while the haunted couple are asleep.

I thought it was really clever, and quite jumpy. However, I would say that it didn't quite live up to the scenes shown in the trailers, with US audiences appearing petrified - it was scary, just not as scary as it was made out to look. Also, I kind of thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out, but I won't spoil it here.

Definitely worth a look if you get a chance.