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While not a fan of found footage films, there are exceptions out there. There are also examples of good horror films. After putting off watching 'Paranormal Activity' and its sequels due to the divisiveness being so extreme both ways, the decision was made to watch them all to see what the fuss was about.
'Paranormal Activity' is one of those very divisive films where you can sort of see why it was hyped up positively, at the same time one can totally see why it wouldn't appeal to all. For me, 'Paranormal Activity' was nowhere near as good as the hype and wasn't really for me, but it did have its moments and redeeming merits so can't be as hard on it as most negative reviewers have been (not so much as to attack anybody who liked it).
There are times where there was a genuine sense of dread and tension, heightened by some creepy lighting and eerie if effectively low-key sound effects and noises. The ending may have been a little overblown somewhat, but was also gut-wrenching and the scariest the film got. Some of the occurrences are suitably ominous.
Katie Featherston is pretty good and brings some normality to the proceedings, while Mark Fredrichs provides the one memorable supporting contribution.
Micah Sloat however is disadvantaged by an underwritten and annoying character with zero development and acts blandly and obnoxiously. The rest of the supporting cast are forgettable.
While there are some good scares here, more so than given credit for by those who didn't care for it or disliked it, they didn't come consistently. Too many of them suffered from being far too predictable and veering on the ridiculous. The lack of music was a brave choice but while it was appreciated to not have anything overbearing what was going on parts did cry out for some scoring of subtle eeriness.
Unfortunately, too much of 'Paranormal Activity' drags badly, with downtime scenes that are ridiculously and dully written with lots of cheese and no substance, a big problem for a film with a good deal of that. Dialogue is poor and the storytelling relies on atmosphere to work but is paper thin to the point of non-existence elsewhere. Really didn't care for the excessively unfocused and gimmicky camera work either.
In conclusion, not as good as the positive hype and not worth losing sleep over, but while the less than positive reviews are understandable some of the extreme negativity is over the top to me. 5/10 Bethany Cox
