"Paranormal Activity" (2007)

Paranormal Activity follows the strange and sudden disturbances occurring in the house of young American couple, Micah and Katie. Hoping to catch the unwelcome intruder on camera, Micah very enthusiastically takes on the task of filming their nightly, and day-to-day activities, much to Katie's apprehension.

I think this is one of those horror films designed specifically to be watched in the dark. I tried watching the first twenty minutes or so during the day, but I felt myself getting bored from its clichéd perfect-couple-meets-haunted-house-experience. I found by waiting and watching the rest of it when it was actually dark, I was pulled into the story much easier! 

It’s a unique aspect to have the whole film done through a home-video style. I really liked that. It made it feel more realistic which served to captivate the audience far more seamlessly. It’s also fairly impressive to be able to have an entire film pretty much revolving around only two characters. I don’t think you could get away with that too often.

I felt that the tension was built at a perfect pace. Not too fast, not too slow. They gave just the right amount of disturbing noises at the right time, and built it up gradually so they had the audience right where they wanted them. I admit there were moments I had to turn on the light, or turn off the sound, or just pause it for a few seconds, because the tension just got too much! That being said, there was one point where Katie jumps up in the bed during one of the night video takings and I reckon it was purely for the sake of giving the audience a good fright. I felt this was a bit clichéd. – Although, that’s not to say it didn’t do its job!

I have to say I thought the ending was quite disappointing. After having gotten into the story, come the credits, I had to sit back and wonder, “Really?!” I felt such a conclusion became very outrageous very quickly, and just wasn’t in keeping with the rest of the plot. 

However, as a whole, I would say if you enjoy this genre, then it’s still a film worth checking out!

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