Amazingly overrated

Rating: 3/10 (8 November 2009)

I've heard people say you won't sleep after seeing this movie. I almost fell asleep watching it. Though PA is often compared to the Blair Witch Project, and though superficially it may seem to share a few of that earlier movie's strengths, in fact it makes the one mistake that BWP so carefully avoided: of showing too much. BWP doesn't show you a single thing that is obviously supernatural; but PA goes all out on fleeting shadows, self-incinerating ouija boards, swinging lamps, billowing sheets, windy living rooms and demon-victims being dragged across the hallway.
This is all so terribly over the top that instead of being scary I found it quite ludicrous. Of course the haunted couple never does the obvious things, like switching on the light, closing the bedroom door, or changing sides in the bed (the girl is the one targeted by the 'demon' yet sleeps next to the open door.) I'll grant that the actors aren't doing a bad job, but a lot more is needed to make the antics of this particular demon even remotely believable. Especially as some inconsistencies are pretty glaring. e.g., the paranormal expert Dr. Fredrichs makes it clear he can't do anything for the couple, yet the demon is very angry at his being in the house. Why? The fact that at least three different endings were filmed doesn't say much for the integrity of the entire concept either. It feels pretty much random; a lot of things could have been added or left out without it making much difference. From what I read the original ending is probably more in keeping with the concept of the film than the one now shown in cinema's, that has a demon that's a bit too keen to play for the camera and provide a good, old-fashioned shocker.
Great hype. Big yawn.