Paranormal Activity re-started the found footage horror genre all over again. Paranormal Activity stole audiences from Saw, putting them out of the box office, and became a household name of a series. Yes the sequels/prequels can be a bit convoluted and maybe not as good as they could have been (I mean PA 4, what was that?!) but today we’re talking about where it all began.

Paranormal Activity follows a couple called Katie and Micah. They move into a new home and soon find ghostly happenings well happening. Micah decides to record it all on a huge camera to document what is happening. He leaves these cameras on overnight too and that’s where the real horror really happens. In the end, Katie is dragged down the stairs with Micah following soon behind, she then turns up in her possessed form and throws Micah to the camera before attacking the camera herself. This is the ending I’ve seen but I know there are others. It then concludes that Micah’s body was found a few days later but Katie was no where to be soon. Ooh, too spooky.

This movie is a lot to do with suspense. They make the audience wait for any flicker of action before creating a huge jump scare to spark a reaction. That’s why people are so scared of these series’, because they make the actual scare way more scary then it is through sound and intensity.

I thought this movie was ok. It wasn’t anything special but it did work whenever you hear a noise or a creak it takes your mind back to this movie. The sequels, as I said, were ridiculous but this one? It was alright because it was the first. It brought back found footage movies to the big screen and opened up new ideas for new horror movies. If you watched it just as a movie however without all these merits it’s sub-par at best.

Would I recommend it? Yeah, why not. It’s nice to go back and see when a genre reopened its doors to different ways of being but don’t expect too much. There will be a lot of sitting around and waiting for stuff to happen. Is the ending worth that? No, not really, but it does make you wonder what happens to the couple and that’s where the sequels come in. Don’t watch those though. Ok. Watch the first three but then miss the fourth, seriously, miss the fourth.

What did you think of Paranormal Activity?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding