Interesting. Unique. And yes...Scary

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2015)

My reviews aren't scene by scene accounts of the movie, but they may reveal some small spoilers.
First of all, I think this movie gets a bad rap from a lot of reviewers because it was hyped as the scariest movie of all time. It isn't. But, movies shouldn't be rated compared to it's hype. Taken alone, this movie is pretty solid, and it's scares rely on the viewers imagination, as there is no scary entity to be seen. The unique thing about this movie is it's voyeuristic aspect. We, as the audience, are actually watching most of the scenes play out through closed circuit cameras. And it's easy to imagine the horror the young couple must be going through as we're witnessing the paranormal activity happening first hand, almost like it's directly happening to the viewers themselves. All in all, I think the concept works pretty well, as this was an interesting and scary movie.
One of the common complaints of this movie is the fact that they show time elapsing at night, leading up to the different paranormal activities taking place. The complaint is that this eliminates the suspense. Personally, I think it has the opposite affect. As voyeurs, we feel the tension build as the camera's clock winds forward. Sometimes the activity wakes the couple up, sometimes it doesn't. It's especially creepy the times we see Katie get up out of bed and stand over her sleeping boyfriend for a few hours.
Like any movie, there is some flaws. I know personally if I watched the video from the night before and saw my girlfriend creepily standing over me for hours on end, I'd do something about it. Secondly, Katie's boyfriend is pretty annoying, and reminds me of college frat boy punk. And the ending was a little anticlimactic to me, though it didn't take away from my enjoyment of this film. But, I digress, as there is and never will be a movie void of flaws.
The movie worked for me. The mood is generally creepy. The pace is good, and the tension builds throughout as the activity increases. The characters are generally likable, sans Micah (the boyfriend), and the story is solid. I found it to be generally scary, which is exactly what a scary movie is supposed to be.