This ain't no Amityville Horror. Not by a long shot.

Rating: 8/10 (27 November 2009)

I'll start this by saying that Paranormal Activity is one movie that will stay with you after you leave the cinema. It is not often that this is true, but this film taps into such a core human fear that most of you will struggle to shake it.
The movie starts with a couple purchasing a (oddly large) video camera in an attempt to catch some strange going ons that have apparently been occurring in the house.
The films starts slowly, with not much occurring in the first 30 or 40 minutes, other than some occasionally humorous banter between the two leads. However the slow start is more than made up when paranormal occurrences start to intensify.
The film escapes the common "why don't you get the hell outta there" criticism of the haunted house genre by creating a rather convenient and weak back story of the ghost following the female lead, as opposed to haunting a specific house - however this just about works and on hindsight the film is better for it.
The last 40 minutes of the film achieves something that many supernatural thrillers fail to do - it creates a genuine sense of dread. It works on many levels and looking at two people sleep or staring at an empty room has never been so terrifying. I watched it at a packed theater, and every time the sleeping scenes begin, you could feel the impending sense of fear in the air.
Special effects are used sparingly, and most importantly never over the top. One such special effect moment will surely go down into horror movie history, though I won't spoil it for you here.
Throughout the movie, the suspense builds up continually and in the last 20 minutes or so, never lets up. The ending is fantastic and I don't ever remember being amongst such an animated theater audience. The film hits on so many areas, but the most refreshing aspect is the lack of cheap Hollywood scares. There is no Amityville Horror here, this is different, and it works brilliantly. For those Hollywood horror fans that thrive on the gore and shock moments, you won't like it. This isn't the same. This is far more intelligent, and so much better for it. May be there is life in the supernatural genre after all.
A well deserved 8 out of 10. You won't forget this movie in a while.