Paranormal Activity (2007)

Director: Oren Peli

Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs

After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

There’s been a flood of found footage films since ‘The Blair Witch Project’ popularized the genre back in 1999. Few were as effective as ‘Paranormal Activity’, and I still think this is one of the best films in the genre.

It’s interesting that the actors starred as themselves. This fact and the fact that they were unknown actors, makes the film more believable. The film doesn’t show us how the paranormal activity started in the home of Katie and Micah. The film starts with Micah having bought a fancy new camera to record the strange goings-on in their home.

‘Paranormal Activity’ doesn’t start all subtle like most haunted house movies. It plunges the viewer into the scary and creepy world of paranormal activity right from the start. Off course, the haunting intensifies as the film unfolds. There are a few rather disturbing images. This is truly a frightening film.

The performances were very natural, and the film felt authentic and real. It was also totally believable why they were constantly filming.

‘Paranormal Activity’ was an enormous box office success, raking in $193 million on a $230,000 budget! The film started a franchise, currently consisting of 8 films.

Would I watch it again? Yes.