A Horror Classic

Rating: 6/10 (27 October 2013)

The order that I saw these films in was: 3, 2, 4, 1; which considering the story isn't a bad order to see them in. I was glad that I watched the original last because it allowed me to realise the reasons why I didn't like the sequels; reasons that I will only touch on in this review. Out of the four movies this was the best one (the original usually is), although the scare tactic that these films are famous for was lost on me by the time I had got around to seeing this one, I feel this is the strongest story-wise.
Unlike the sequels, this movie begins with Micah operating a camera he has just bought to set up in his and Katie's bedroom because mysterious things have been happening during the night; rather than starting out with one of the protagonist's randomly filming almost every hour of the day for seemingly no reason and then slowly leading into the ghostly terror. We then follow the couple's terrifying experience of loud footsteps, slamming doors and a midnight dragging.
The thing that the sequels lacked is drama; they are purely terror driven with almost minimal character development. This film integrates drama with terror giving the audience an emotional connection with the leading characters. For example, towards the end of the movie there is a scene when Katie has an emotional break down on the bed and Micah is trying his best to console her but to almost no avail. This scene is powerful and dramatic and the emotion spills off the screen and subsequently adds to the sadness of the film's ending, although the sorrow is probably conquered by fear. The development (if there was any at all) of the character's and their relationship creates this strong ending and this is what the sequels seemed to lack.
This film still works as a classic horror piece; watching this movie in the dark late at night right before bedtime is probably not the best idea. The final scene with Katie hovering over Micah for hours is one of the creepiest I have seen in a horror film. For any aspiring filmmaker this film is a wet dream. Made for a budget of only $15000 it has a total lifetime gross of $190 million worldwide (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=paranormalactivity.htm) and spawned 3 sequels with a spin-off and a 4th sequel in development. Oren Peli who, according to his IMDb profile, was unknown prior to the release of this film has created a monster of a movie series, whose films have been spit out faster than that of the Saw movie series, another horror classic (original only). It's a common theory that the original is always the best and in this case it is true but it wouldn't be true to say that each sequel has been worse than its predecessor. The third and fourth films were stronger than the second but the third was stronger than the fourth. I am curious to see the fifth instalment but honestly have no interest in seeing the spin-off movie (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones). A classic horror movie overall that would be worthy to be spoken in the same breath as Halloween (1978), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Saw (2004).