Not very good but interesting as a genre piece.

Rating: 3/10 (17 June 2011)

I'm a big fan of the pseudo-documentary horror genre. Cannibal Holocaust is a sick spectacle but engaging and inventive. The Last Broadcast and even The Wicksborough Incident have moments that are gripping and a scattering of great ideas. Also, controversial opinion maybe, I really liked The Blair Witch Project. Aside from hailing a certain "reality" TV zeitgeist, The Blair Witch Project was moody and effective and had a great build up that kept you guessing. The eerie pagan figures made of branches, the woods at night full of strange sounds, the anxiety of never being quite able to see what was outside the frame of the shaky camera, all work together to create a little low budget masterpiece that rightfully scared the daylight out of audiences.
Now we've got this flat-footed attempt at "horror" called Paranormal Activity. Man, this was a bummer. I guess the success of shows like "Ghost Hunters" has given Hollywood the idea that people can get scared by little more that creepy sounds and night vision because this flick has spawned a number of imitations. As it is, Paranormal Activity has all the spooky thrills of a fake ghost video on Youtube. I prefer the Youtube videos because they are concise and don't pretend to have little more that one trick up their sleeve. Instead of being spooked, I just sat through Paranormal Activity wondering why the malevolent spirit does such boring stuff at night. He walks around, he turns on some lights, turns on the TV- basically this disembodied demon does everything I do when I can't sleep. Don't get me wrong, I see potential in the "Ghost Hunter" style horror movie. This stuff can be spooky if taken to the right place. But why must they be so unimaginative?
The only mild jolt comes at the very end, and even that is not much better than most homemade Youtube clips. In fact, I highly recommend surfing Youtube and watching the Paranormal Activity style videos on a dark and quiet night. You will be scared! I only recommend this film for people curious about the pseudo-documentary horror genre, researching or trying to make a thorough survey of contemporary horror.