Review of Paranormal Activity (2007) by Chris H — 13 Jan 2013

After the success of The Blair Witch Project, many other movies followed the same style of filmmaking and suspense. Due to the found footage genre gaining as much popularity nowadays, it's safe to assume that many directors of horror movies want to make the audience feel immersed. Many do a great job whether they be horror movies or not. Paranormal Activity is no exception.

The plot is told similarly to Blair Witch. This movie takes a generic haunted house story and tells it not so much in a documentary fashion, but a home movie/reality tv show. Two college sweethearts: Micah and Katie move into a new, big home in San Diego. While there, they think they have it all good but strange things start to happen. Determined to found out what it is, Micah tries to communicate with the entity using an ouija board and uses his camera equipment to determine its behavioral patterns.

Like Blair Witch, the plot is told solely through home video camera, but since this movie was released in 2007 one would have to expect the video quality to be better. Micah always has the camera on and takes it with him everywhere he goes. Also, the being that haunts them is never shown. The only thing we see are footprints, doors moving, and marks on the ouija board.

Unlike Blair Witch, this movie takes place solely within one location. There are no adventure elements of any kind. This movie relies solely on suspense and mystery. Due to it taking place in the house only, there were some times where I felt that this movie dragged on and felt repetitive. This is mostly due to the presence haunting them at nighttime.

This movie has two endings. One which was played in theaters and the other on the dvd release that contains the option of playing the original or alternate version. This fact does make for some re-watch value. While movies like this one and Blair Witch are great, they do have limited re-watch value to them. This is due to them being extremely generic from a technical standpoint.

That being said, they are by no means bad movies. I believe that they deserve the respect they get for trying something new and unique. They are not only innovative, but also very immersive. Immersion is one of the key factors in making a successful horror movie. Paranormal Activity may not be as good as Blair Witch, but it is worth checking out for any fan of the home video horror genre.

*Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween.