Overrated. Anti-climatic. Possibly the worst attempt at a psychological horror/thriller film that I have ever seen.

Rating: 2/10 (7 November 2009)

Having never heard of 'Paranormal Activity' before, I came in expecting nothing from the film, but usually had a soft spot for indie films. My friend, however, was hyped up about the film, raving on about all the previous positive reviews on IMDb. We both came out equally empty, horribly unsatisfied and in awe. We were both shocked as to why we spent 86 minutes on a film that had no element of thrill and was anti- climatic.
If you are a viewer who expects cheap scares, this movie is definitely not for you. You will never see the face of the 'entity'. You will only hear it, see it's movements and it's shadow (that looks like one of an old man). The film works around scaring the audience psychologically. It however, fails to achieve this in any possible way, except for the use of the handy cams, immersing the audience into the same situation as the characters.
One positive feature of film is the suspense that is developed throughout. Your feelings will, however, alternate between experiencing suspense during the night scenes and disappointed as it becomes day time. You are left at the edge of the seat at every night scene, expecting something horrible to happen but it doesn't. The scariest scenes in the film is when Diane wakes up at 3:14 am and stands there for a good 2 hours or so, and when she is pulled out of the bed by the entity. Other than that, it is only the movement of a vase, burning of a Ouija board, closing of a door, and sounds of footsteps which is *supposed* to leave you at the edge of the seat.
The film lacks direction and overall background story behind Diane's possession. Who is this entity that is following her? Why is it following her? The director tries to solve this all by leaving a partially burnt photograph of little Diane. Diane reveals that she has been haunted by the entity for 8 years. But what provoked the entity to possess her now? The photograph of her childhood explains very little about the entity which tells me that it is a failure in the director's part in developing the background story.
The biggest disappointment of all is the ending. After many days of recording their tedious lives, Diane is finally possessed and it is suggested through the non-diegetic sounds that Micah is murdered by his girlfriend. We do not see any blood or killing as the camera is left placed on the tripod in the bedroom. Seconds later, the same fate is suggested of their female friend. After a minute or so, the police enter to find Diane in a shaken state.
Now, I'm the type of person who gets scared very easily to the extent of experiencing sleep paralysis and nightmares of the wicked witch in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Honestly? After watching this, I felt violated in the way that the director was able to steal away 86 minutes of my time.
To sum it all up, the movie was overrated, anti-climatic, lacked a background story, unrealistic and of course, not scary.
Now if this review didn't change your decision about watching it, go ahead and watch it yourself. I already warned you.