IRREVERENT Magazine - Movie Reviews

For fans of The Blair Witch who longed for more inside footage and less tension, Paranormal Activity is just for you.

A guy (Micah Sloat) and his girlfriend (Katie Featherston) buy an expensive new video camera to tape themselves in bed. No, they're not looking to break into the glamorous world of amateur porn (which actually may have been more exciting). The woman, it seems, has a history of strange things happening to her and the guy thinks catching it on video will help for some reason. So he duplicates the set-up from T.A.P.S. (see Ghost Hunters on Syfy does serve a purpose!), and starts taping everything in their lives, increasingly annoying his girlfriend.

Pretty soon, he starts noticing things in the footage, like doors closing by themselves and stage-hands dropping boxes loudly out of shot. These things continue and the girl decides to contact a psychic to talk about it. The psychic arrives to fill in the back-story, and leaves, referring them to another guy who they never get ahold of.

The couple fights. More weird stuff and box dropping occurs. Eventually, the guy (Micah) throws some baby powder all over his hardwood floors and the supernatural creature (a demon we're told) invisibly walks through it. They find a picture up in the attic along with some insulation. More stuff happens and eventually the whole flick is paid off by the final 5 or 6 minutes of the film, which is pretty cool. The end.

Over-hyped and disappointing, save your dough and leave Paranormal Activity for those with T.V. advertising to sell.

(Still, kudos for getting a major hit with a $15,000 budget in 2009, guys, and I've gladly donated my dough for the effort.)