Extremely unthrilling, very obvious, very clichéd. We've seen it all before.
10 Comments
12/07/09
Paranormal Activity (2009)
82
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:179
Fresh:146
Rotten:33
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Using its low-budget effects and mockumentary method to great result, Paranormal Activity turns a simple haunted house story into 90 minutes of relentless suspense.
Runtime: 86 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
US Box Office: $107,901,736
Synopsis: A haunted house makes no secret of the fact it is not pleased with its new tenants in this independent tale of supernatural horror. Katie (Katie Featherson) and Micah (Micah Sloat) are a... [More]
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong
Director: Oren Peli
Reviews for Paranormal Activity
Top CriticWhen the object of the hype turns out to be as lame as this film, the whole exercise becomes just another Hollywood con job.
12/07/09
Top CriticDemonstrates that when filmgoers decide they want to be scared, they will forgive absolutely anything -- bad acting, cheesy dialogue, poor camerawork, bad editing, unconvincing effects, incoherent storytelling -- for the sake of a good scare.
12/02/09
Top CriticIf you know what's coming, it might just kill the effect. That said, going in blind will almost guarantee a genuinely chilling horror movie experience that should be seen at the cinema.
12/01/09
Top CriticA couple may be desperate enough to place a camera on a tripod to record what goes bump in the night but the enforced recording of every other moment soon becomes a tiresome construct that turns the whole film into a wobbly home video with terrible sound.
11/28/09
Top CriticThe promise is to scare you out of your wits. Does it work? For me: no. To tell you the truth, I was bored, frustrated and nauseous from the terminally jerky hand-held camera
11/28/09
Top CriticThe suspense that's missing from so many horror films is there. It's a genuinely scary film -- and that's a rare thing to accomplish in front of today's blase, switched-off audiences.
10/27/09
Top CriticParanormal Activity isn't an actor's film per se, but it wouldn't be as eerily effective without Featherston and Sloat's believable, lived in performances.
01/31/10
It's a good try.
01/20/10
I'd rank being stuck in a big quiet house at night as one of life's most easily unnerving experiences, and this movie capitalizes on it.
01/10/10
... a fairly satisfying piece of filmmaking and an overhyped piece of cult marketing.
01/10/10
Authentically unnerving, exploiting basic fears with flashes of real brilliance and creating something that lingers long in the memory -- and definitely will come back to haunt you in the dark of night.
12/16/09
The climax is deliciously scary, and Peli gets considerable mileage from the simple matter of lights inexplicably going on in another room.
12/15/09
It illustrates one of my favorite points, that silence and waiting can be more entertaining than frantic fast-cutting and berserk f/x. For extended periods here, nothing at all is happening, and believe me, you won't be bored.
12/15/09
Top CriticIt's not the scariest movie I have ever seen, but it's probably the most efficient and insidious. The noises in my house never seemed so loud or inexplicable as they do after seeing this. It's a great scary treat and the filmmakers should be rewarded wi
12/15/09
Paranormal Activity boasts some scary moments, sure, but the movie cannot live up to its own hype . . .
12/15/09
full review at Movies for the Masses
12/10/09
Paranormal Activity is a remarkable achievement, but ultimately it’s just not scary enough to be considered a horror classic.
12/04/09
It never really convinces on the demonic level. Yet it does partly succeed as a relationship movie.
12/04/09
Peli's film revives the honourable tradition of chills-by-suggestion, whereby what we don't see is far scarier than what we do.
12/04/09
Latest News for Paranormal Activity
January 19, 2010:
Writer, Director Hired for Paranormal Activity Sequel 
The inevitable "Paranormal Activity" sequel is moving forward at Paramount, with the studio hiring a writer (television vet Michael R. Perry) and director ("Saw VI" helmer Kevin... More...
December 28, 2009:
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: 9 and Paranormal Activity
Now that Christmas has passed, it's time for you to return all those gifts you didn't really want and pick up something special for yourself. And, unfortunately, though we have... More...
December 11, 2009:
Paramount Thinks Small
Inspired by the success of "Paranormal Activity," Paramount is setting aside $1 million annually for "microbudget" films. More...
December 02, 2009:
10 Horrifically Profitable Films
Oren Peli's debut feature 'Paranormal Activity' -- an ingenious horror movie set in a house as a young couple attempt to capture a spectre on camera -- was made on video for a... More...
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