Best suspense/horror film of all time!

Rating: 9/10 (19 October 2009)

I am truly impressed with this film. I'd like to have seen it under the context of not knowing it's reputation. Maybe it was just because I anticipated it being so scary? I had a slew of people and reviews that told me it was the most disturbing film they've seen.
I couldn't pass it up. Me and my fiancée hit up a late-night showing of this film. It was worth it. I couldn't sleep that night.
The production is hokey and unimpressive. About as unimpressive as a home movie/documantary... hey wait, isn't that what they were going for? This movie pulls off a very legitimate 'documentary' feel. Most of the scary parts of this film aren't even action-filled. There's no goopy-goblins jumping out at the screen, to follow their 'rising tension' synth-string cues. There isn't a big chase scene. There isn't even a fight/battle with an antagonist. It's simply a film that gets it's scares from the viewer itself.
My heart was racing even before any sort of "Paranormal Activity" was on the screen at all. The build-up to these horrific scenes of ghostly-shenanigans is gut-wrenching. The characters react in a very personable way to their encounters with the paranormal. The male character is a 'tough guy' when it comes to this stuff. He think's ghosts are 'cool' and 'interesting'. You begin to realize that this is a defense mechanism. He's just as scared as anybody would be.
The film goes from scary to uncontrollably frightening in a well-paced manner. Some of the eeriest things I've ever seen happen in the most subtle ways ever. In most movies, ghosts put on this big laser-light show with tons of CG and spooky tricks. The ghost in this film behaves in a very calculated way. It feels like an antagonist character, although you really don't get to see it on-screen. You get an idea of what this 'ghost' looks like, given the type of activity it presents throughout the film. The film utilizes the imagination of the viewer to a great level of success.
I'm one of those guys who watches Horror films for gags. I rolled my eyes and scoffed at the first 5 minutes of this film, I admit. There were people in the theater who were actually yelling things at the screen, showing off how non-scared they were.
When the "Paranormal Activity" occurred on the screen... the theater was SILENT. The peanut gallery were trembling just as hard as the characters in this film.
I have YET to have such an exciting cinematic experience. I give this a 9 out of 10. I would give it a perfect 10/10 had this film had a more well-thought-out ending.
Go see it. Take your friend that 'isn't scared of anything'.
Intense. Realistic. Eerie. Great film-making.
How does somebody with a gazillion dollar budget like Michael Bay make movies that I don't react to in any way (as if I were just looking at an advertisement in a magazine) - and some inexperienced production can make me lose sleep... on like $10,000? Filmmakers should take notes from Paranormal Activity.