Paranormal Activity [DVD] [2007]

Paranormal Activity [DVD] [2007]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-03-22
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: DVD-Video, PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 82 minutes

Customer Reviews

Genuinely terrifying
I love a good, scary film, especially ones with supernatural goings-on and the more realistic, the better and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY didn't fail to frighten me and keep me thinking long after the credits had rolled.

The story is about a young couple - Micah and Katie - who move in together and within a few weeks strange things start happening during the night so Micah buys a camera and other recording equipment to try and capture the activity on film. It is all filmed through the perspective of the two lead characters using the hand-held camera and is all recorded in their house, making this feel extremely creepy and personal as you are really taken out of your comfort zone, particularly as a majority of the occurrences happen when they are sleeping. Not actually seeing the ghost or demon makes it also a lot more realistic as it is left to your imagination to what is actually going on.

The acting is spot-on, having a very slow build up near the beginning gave me time to get to know the characters a little bit and therefore care about what was happening to them later on. When the actual hauntings happen their performances are very believable, with real panic and fear (apparently the actors weren't entirely sure what was going to happen to them when it was filmed, so there is a lot of unrehearsed acting here). As the days go by and the hauntings get worse, it gets to the point near the end of the film where I was dreading what was going to happen next.

I think the scariest thing about this film is how it plays on your mind afterwards and made every knock and creak that I heard in my house whilst lying in bed kept me on edge and just couldn't get the creepy scenes out of my head. This is without a doubt one of the most chilling and genuinely creepy films I have ever seen and am so glad I went along with the hype and saw this as it was excellent. If you like a scare then I highly recommend this to you.

Scary but it also offers more to film fans than just the odd jump
I like this film. Sure, it delivers scares, but I enjoyed other elements of this film besides all the 'paranormal activity'. What I really loved was the home life.

I thought the actors were great and it really did feel real. For once this was a 'found footage film' that made me feel like I really was genuinely watching someone's home movies. The couple seemed very real and natural together and the voyeur in me really enjoyed watching there home life, complete with goofy husband jokes - which were as always insensitive and inappropriate - and being a guy I could really relate to it, and loved his humour and the dynamics between the pair.

I thought this film was really quite clever. It's always refreshing seeing low budget films that become successes. They nearly always offer something new, for the simple reason that a lack of money forces directors & crew to come up with new, inventive and imaginative ways to solve problems or create effects when they can't just throw money at the problem. In short, it stops film makers being lazy and boost originality and creativity. Paranormal Activity is a perfect example of this.

The jumps, scares and horror, weren't/wasn't relentless, but the film certainly had its moments, with 1 or 2 scenes - actually make that 3 or 4 - being genuinely creepy and sending shivers up my spine. Only one scene really made me jump out my seat, but the rest, as I said, certainly had the shiver factor.

They're making a Paranormal Activity 2 now, in fact I think it's out soon, and it will really interesting to see what's that like and how they approach that. I'm really not sure what type of film it will be, but I hope it's on a par with this. Both my flat mate and I really enjoyed it and Dave - my 6''2' Geordie flat mate - even had nightmares the following night. But then again the film really did seem to freak him out for some reason.

I'd give this an 8 out of 10 as a film to watch, but a 9 our of 10 as an example of good film making. If you found this review helpful, please give it the thumbs up - if not, comment on why so I can do a better job for you next time. Thanks :-)

genuinely scary
A lot of reviewers here compare this to the Blair Witch Project, and certainly it shares the hand-held home video conceit, but in contrast to the BWP this film actually succeeds in being very, very scary. Watch this alone, after dark, with the lights off for maximum effect. Its the first time I can remember since childhood I've then had to put all the lights on and whistle to myself inanely to get over my subsequent jumpiness.


The film succeeds in following the golden rule of not spoiling things with a dud monster/demon (see Cloverfield), builds through a slow crescendo of tension and fear from a seemingly inane start and finishes with an almighty bang.

It plays on primal childhood fears of things going bump in the night and on my own particular fear of what was lurking at the bottom of the stairs. The fact that for long periods little seems to happen works brilliantly in maintaining tension rather than hitting you with a relentless barrage of imagery and noise.

Much, much better than I was expecting.

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