Paranormal Activity (2007) Movie Review
Written By: JASR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Oren Peli
Producers: Jason Blum, Oren Peli
Writers: Oren Peli
Date Released: October 16, 2009 (USA)
Cast:
Katie Featherston as Katie
Micah Sloat as Micah
Mark Fredrichs as Dr. Fredrichs
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Katie and Micah just started living together when they begin experiencing eerie occurrences in their house. The couple talks about how Katie has been experiencing this kind of presence since she was a child. Micah uses a camera to record what they do during the day and capture any paranormal activity at night. The strange occurrences are mild at first, but these events later become stronger and violent.
Gore Factor
Since Paranormal Activity (2007) is essentially about a young couple living in a suburban home, it doesn’t really have any gore. If there’s anything to look out for, it would be the startling scares – but nothing disgusting or gory.
The Grave Review
When Paranormal Activity (2007) first came out, it was quite the talk of the town. Adults and young adults alike were heard talking about the paranormal activity in Paranormal Activity – easily piquing the interest of many movie lovers. The movie rightfully got the attention it deserves as it is interesting, terrifying – and for many people – realistic.
It has been more than a decade since its release, and I would say that it still falls under the category of quality horror movies. For starters, it is realistic and believable. I remember when the movie first came out – some viewers were actually convinced that it’s actual footage from a young couple’s camera. That may sound absurd to some people, but the fact that quite a handful believed it was real says a lot about the movie’s quality.
There are many reasons why one would say that the movie is realistic and believable. First, we don’t see an actual physical demon. In the found footage, we only see moving doors, flickering lights, and visible footprints. The movie seems to have found the right mix of bizarre and realistic – making many viewers feel that it can totally happen to them too.
I think that’s the secret to making a quality horror movie – make it simple enough for viewers to think that it’s absolutely possible. If there were actual images of a demon, the movie would lose its believability. Viewers get more scared when it’s something relatable.
Another reason why the movie seems real is the natural conversations between Micah and Katie. Their dialogues don’t feel like they come from a script. Their words are casual and ordinary.
Despite the movie’s slow pace, it’s still able to keep audiences glued to their seats. This movie elicits anxiety in every nighttime footage. The view of the bedroom, especially in the middle of the night, is creepy in itself. It makes the audience nervous even though there’s nothing happening on the screen. When something does happen, it easily freaks the audience out since they were already nervous to begin with. More than this, the fact that we don’t know where to look during nighttime footage can make us extra nervous.
Paranormal Activity is a movie that will never get old – even though the camera they use already is.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Paranormal Activity (2007) three graves out of five graves.
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