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Paranormal Activity (2007)
Movie review
From Time Out New York
Arriving on a wave of carefully orchestrated viral hype, Paranormal Activity lacks the conceptual elegance of its obvious precursor, The Blair Witch Project. The movie invites us into the home of a couple (Featherston and Sloat) conveniently saddled with the same names as the actors who play them. Katie suspects a haunting, so in what’s now a time-honored tradition, they’ve grabbed a camcorder and elected to film everything. While superior to inept would-be Blairs like Open Water, Paranormal Activity Oren Peli’s horror flick often has the feel of a film-school exercise in which the object is to wring maximum suspense from rudimentary tools.
Still, there aren’t many movies that have the power to scare you with the sound of a creaking door, and it’s hard not to admire the way Paranormal Activity makes a virtue of simplicity. The opening scenes, which suggest nothing so much as a mumblecore horror flick, are eye-gougingly boring and slapdash—but that’s the point. In its most effective steal, the film makes brilliant use of a stubbornly fixed camera: As we wait, trapped with the tripod in Micah and Katie’s bedroom, wondering what happened downstairs, it’s easy to forgive the movie’s crudeness.
Author: Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out New York Issue 732: October 8 - 14, 2009
User reviews of this film
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- Thomas Noctor said...
- Posted on Nov 19 2009 01:33 I was slightly sceptical about this movie. How can you do a movie that tops The Blair Witch Project, Rec or The St. Francisville Experiment? Easy, watch this! I've been a horror junky for as long as I can remember, dont get me wrong I love the films I've mentioned, but this beats them all, in fact its probably the best movie I've ever seen. I don't listen to critics anymore since Drag Me To Hell, (a comedy) was quoted "Scariest film of the decade" and Let The Right One In got 5 stars (really boring non scary fantasy drama, ABOUT KIDS). This on the other hand is a terrifying masterpiece. It takes alot to impress an entire audience but this did. It's nothing really like The Blair Witch Project, (no shaky camera, no lost people) it takes place in the middle of a housing estate and they have signal on their phones too! Very clever, terrifying movie, real horror fans will love this! I watched it in New York, went down a treat! Cant wait until its released in Ireland, November 25th 2009! Don't listen to the wusses!
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- Kayla said...
- Posted on Nov 10 2009 09:01 I've been waiting for a long time for a good genuine scary movie and i sure found it. Even though it took a long time to get to the good stuff it makes you realize how close they were and how things changed because of the presence of the demon. Honestly, i don't get scared easily.. but i"ll admit i almost cried.
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