Paranormal Activity

Review by Anthony Morris

A young American couple are scared of things that go bump in the night, so they set up a video camera to record what's going on while they sleep.

Unfortunately, "better the devil you know" proves to be a bad idea when something that just might be an actual devil is involved...

Filmed for no budget entirely inside one house and with only two cast members (another two characters appear briefly), Paranormal Activity is one of the creepiest and most unsettling horror films of the decade.

Following the same slow-burn "found footage" template laid down by The Blair Witch Project – and then ignored by movies for a decade in favour of zombie attacks and torture-obsessed serial killers – this gets more chills out of grainy footage of someone standing still than most films can out of a fountain of gore.

Somewhat surprisingly, the character stuff mostly works too: the two leads aren't the most polished actors you'll ever see, but they're convincing enough for the story to work, and that's all a film like this needs.

Most horror films seem desperate to explain away every creepy moment, but here the characters' desperate quest for answers only makes things more hopeless, as every explanation they chase only re-enforces the fact they  - and we - know nothing about what's really going on.

The result has its rough edges, but remains undeniably memorable and truly frightening. Which is something we don't see in horror films anywhere near often enough. 

4.5 out of 5

Paranormal Activity
Australian release: 3rd December, 2009
Official Site: Paranormal Activity
Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Michael Bayouth
Director: Oren Peli