Wonderfully Creepy

Rating: 8/10 (20 February 2010)

I've never heard of a horror franchise in which the first film was the weakest. At least in my opinion, but of all three Paranormal Activities released so far this is my least favorite. That doesn't mean I don't like it, in fact when I first saw it I jumped on the bandwagon of "this is the scariest movie I've ever seen in my life." Now I do know that this movie is very polarizing, and I can see why people hate it so much, but for me, I don't have too many complaints about it.
Yeah, it can be very slow at times, it's not a movie that will continuously try and scare you, it needs build up, and for some people the build up is too long and doesn't pay off enough. Micah, one of the two main characters is...well...kind of an idiot. Throughout the movie you want to just go inside the movie and yell at him to listen to Katie. And the day scenes drag on a litte too long, you want to get to night because that's when things get really interesting. And the characters may explain too much to you, they always look over the footage and watch the scary parts.
This is one of the creepiest films I've ever seen in my life. I mean, seriously, any time it turns to night, I begin to get so tense, knowing that these two characters are being watched. And it always leads to a great jump scare. It build gradually, the first few are so small that you may not even realize that something is happening, but then by the last night things just start going so crazy. Katie is a great character, reminding me of myself. If I were in her shoes, that is pretty much how I would act. I like the sense of humor it has so that it isn't completely dread filled. And the ending is fantastic, I've seen the alternate endings, and while they were cool to see, this is the best in my opinion.
This is a love it or hate it movie, and I love it. Yeah it can be slow at times, and Micah is a bit of an idiot. But if you love haunted house movies, or found footage movies, than you owe it to yourself to see this movie.