Paranormal Activity uses the found footage technique to create a "scary" supernatural horror.

Rating: 4/10 (12 June 2018)

This is it. Regarded as the most profitable film ever made. The seed that grows into every future Blumhouse horror film as you witness "from the producers of Paranomal Activity" so frequently, that you start questioning if your own life was made by those very same producers. Independently shot by Peli, viewers enquired whether the events that occurred were true...because they were so terrifying. Well, guess what? This was boooooring. A young couple are haunted by the paranormal and decide to set up some cameras to document the events. Maybe I was being ambitious, reading how critics praised the nightmarish scares and genius use of the found footage trope. Granted, the latter definitely felt refreshing as it borrows a similar idea from cult favourite 'The Blair Witch Project'. The subtle depiction of this supernatural entity destroying this couple's relationship was also intriguing. A few tense moments here and there where silence and acknowledging the unexpected are your greatest fears. Yet, all that laborious hard work accumulates to nothing. Honestly, I became quickly disinterested after the first twenty minutes. These characters have no expression, literally none. A light bulb has more personality than these two together. The script consists of "Katie!" or "Micahhhh!" as she gets casually dragged down the hallway. Micah seems more obsessed over his cameras and documenting everything rather than the safety of his girlfriend. Boyfriend of the year, am I right? The "scares" really are just loud noises, whether it be thunderous footsteps or slamming bedroom doors. Nothing here was frightening, just derivative nonsense. The ending, well...apparently there are four so I'm going with the theatrical cut, was terrible. I tried to stay awake, and my reward is a body flying to the camera? Time. Well. Spent. Look, I appreciate the realistic perspective it was going for and I see the appeal. But the monotonous acting, lack of scares and incredibly dull plot nearly made me fall asleep.