Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
"Paranormal Activity" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 07/29/2013
A young couple decide to film themselves at home in the hope that it will shed light on a series of unexplained incidents. Yet another dreary, pointless entry in the Blair Witch-style wobbly-cam canon, Paranormal Activity is a pseudo documentary cataloguing a series of bumps in the night as two mildly irritating middle-class Americans are plagued by a pesky home invading demon. In its defence, the protagonists are reasonably naturalistic, the casting director thankfully steering clear of the supermodel-cum starlets that usually adorn this type of thing, although the spookiest aspect of the film is Micah Sloat's resemblance to a young Freddie Mercury. There are still plenty of opportunities for the director to have Katie Featherston and her ample cleavage run around in her underwear while …
Rating of
3.5/4
Paranormal Activity review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 02/11/2012
Katie and Micah are haunted by a supernatural occurrence in their home. Katie hires a psychic, Dr. Fredrichs (Mark Fredrichs), who assesses that she is being haunted not by a ghost, but by a demon. It’s funny how the couple always leaves their door open as if persuading the demon to do its thing in front of the camera. Not sure why Dr. Fredrichs mentioned that they couldn’t do anything even if they left the house. Alternate ending was not as scary as the one on the film. This hand held film was way scarier than Blair Witch Project and could have been in this reviewers top horror list if it was better planned in terms of realism instead of having somewhat illogical characters and a few overlong dull moments. The thing about this documentary style of filming is that you don't …
Rating of
1/4
*Rolls eyes*
theCriticalMarisa - wrote on 03/26/2011
I was one of those fools who "demanded" Paranormal Activity during it's campaign for mass release. Well, you know what they say about hindsight.
I went into this movie wanting to be scared. I saw it on Halloween. I love Halloween. I basically wanted to pee my pants watching this movie, or at the very least have to sleep with my light on for a few nights. Instead, I spent at least an hour sitting through a boyfriend videoing his girlfriend and waiting for something to happen other than watching them sleep and brush their teeth. Like, seriously. Nothing happens until the last 15 minutes of the movie and of the last 15 minutes, there's only one thing that impressed me at all- the scene many others have mentioned, the girl getting dragged out of bed. That part's pretty cool, but not worth …
Rating of
2/4
Not As Scary As I Thought It Would Be.
myfaja - wrote on 08/10/2010
This movie was pretty good. Not as scary as I thought it would be. I never really jumped out of my seat like they always show in those stupid commercials. People say that this movie is really unique, but the only unique thing about it is that it made with a hand-held camera. Besides that, it is pretty much like every other horror movie. I found it took too long and they could've done so much more with this idea, they would have cut half the talking from this and added more demon scenes I would give this movie a higher score. The ending was the only thing that really creeped me out, there were other scary parts, when she gets dragged off the bed, the Ouija board scene. But the ending was just perfect. The screaming stops, soft footsteps up the stairs, then BOOM Micah's body is thrown at …
Rating of
3.5/4
Very well made movie... Made me jump several times
mdtinney - wrote on 05/28/2010
It has been years since I have gotten even remotely freaked out by a new movie. I think it was "The Others" and even then it was not to the degree that this film gave me chills. I really think the indie production is what helped to make this film effective. Had this been done like your typical studio job, this would not have been anywhere near as chilling. Even if you do not believe in the supernatural, you can relate to how frightening it would be to seeing footage of your house being invaded as you slept. The use of the camera and editing is really well executed here despite some of the minor motion sickness the weak might feel at a few of the shots. What a real step forward this film has made since "The Blair Witch Project" of ten years ago, though I realize the original release date …
Rating of
4/4
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – An Off the Cuff Review
Mr. E Horror - wrote on 11/05/2009
As a purveyor of opinions of all things horror, I should be ashamed of myself for taking this long to see Paranormal Activity. I’ve finished watching the film only fifteen minutes ago, but I feel as though I should write without laying all of my ideas out and try to draw from the visceral fear that I am still experiencing. I am very impressed with the film overall. The scariest stuff is what is happening off screen, and it is scary. For a movie with a $15,000 budget and a barely discernable plot to be as effective as it is in scaring audiences, one must wonder what it is about the film that makes it frightening.
The context the movie resides within is very conducive to moody atmospheres from monochromatic night shots and the chaotic camera movement. These elements provide the …
Rating of
3.5/4
The Mundane Has Never Been This Terrifying
Chris Kavan - wrote on 10/29/2009
Minimalism is completely lost on Hollywood these days. Between the next huge in-your-face blockbuster or amped-up gorefest, sometimes something slips by, often overlooked or unnoticed. Lucky for us, Paranormal Activity had a great plan: roll out slowly, word-of-mouth interest and terrific audience reaction.
So it is that a $15,000 movie is probably going to end up north of $100 million after its run - and it deserves every penny. With just two main actors, a camera and some nifty camera tricks you have the perfect Halloween movies that put such dreck as Saw and Stepfather to shame. It's one of those great movies that gnaws at you and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up - it's not so much scary as unsettling.
The best thing about Paranormal Activity is the fact that, …
Rating of
3/4
Good Movie....But....Don't Believe The Hype
Roseybaby - wrote on 10/22/2009
This movie doesn't live up to the hype, but it doesn't mean it's not a good movie. It wasn't frightening to me. It did have suspense and the the actor and actress in the main roles were good. I found it pretty slow moving for the first half hour or so. It did pick up and there was a decent amount of tension. I didn't jump or gasp or cry while watching this. I also had no problem sleeping after viewing it. I know it all comes down to a matter of taste and personal opinion, but I find it really hard to believe there are people out there who were so scared after this seeing this movie that they were creeped out for days or had trouble sleeping. I just don't get it. It's an interesting enough movie, but certainly not the scariest movie ever. It has atmosphere and has you imagining …
Rating of
4/4
Less Is More!
Matthew Sanchelli - wrote on 10/20/2009
Off the bat...I'll have to give this movie 5 out of 5 stars (or here...4 out of 4). Why? Because this movie made me go inside my own head. I have a very very vivid imagination. Combine that, with a realistic style of shooting the flick and making it "home-movie-ish" with a quality digital camera and it's essentially something I could theoretically shoot myself; as in I could record something paranormal as well. (though from what I know about the subject...I would not want to antagonize a spirit/demon by trying to catch it in the act....they don't like that).
I appreciate the fact that this movie gave me the benefit of the doubt on being a free-minded individual. Let me think for myself and don't spoon feed me all of this pointless violence and gore and information. This was basic and …
Rating of
3.5/4
Honest opinion of a great movie.
Tmac6006 - wrote on 10/11/2009
I must say I was a bit disappointed in this movie. Now don't get me wrong it is a good movie. Its just I heard so many good things that it was supposed to be one of the scariest movies ever, and to me it wasn't. I think it was more creepy, like that it could actually me happening than it was actually scary.
It had a great plot and I really loved the pacing of the movie. It starts off with what ever entity is in there house, just messing with them at first and as it goes on it gets worse and worse. Now I must say it is a little slow at the beginning, at least to me it was. It really didn't do anything scary until the last 30 mins of the movie. When the movie really starts to pick up though it gets going good. The last day in the house is really disturbing to say the least. Now I …
