Too much hype, not enough fear!

Rating: 2/10 (21 October 2009)

As always, these days in horror films, the sizzle is far more potent than the steak and this film does not vary from that formula. Paranormal Activity is merely okay, its not particularly frightening nor is it particularly suspenseful. It is fairly formulaic in its approach to "unknown entities" inhabiting an otherwise typical suburban household and does not stray from that recipe. I'm a bit unnerved by the reviews which praise the acting in this movie as I found it quite amateurish and without any character. Just by calling someone "Babe" throughout the film does not constitute "reality or realism" to me. I will admit it had a few creepy moments, but they became repetitious after the first half of the film. The ending was completely disappointing and the characters' attempts to solve their "paranormal activity" were feeble and completely unbelievable. Young people like Katy and Micah do not live in a vacuum and I cannot believe they would not have spoken to friends and family and colleagues about what was going on and shown them what would be compelling films of ghostly or demonic presence. Such films would cause a media sensation in the "real" world and Katie and Micah would have been on Larry King or Oprah and have sold the "rights" to their story within minutes of seeing the first videos of their "houseguest". Just wait for this one to be on HBO or on DVD. The vintage 60's film "The Haunting" does a better job at this sort of thing with wonderful and professional acting to boot.