Quick Review: Paranormal Activity

A movie that cost $15,000 to make and is probably going to hit $100 million at the box office: why can't I come up with something like this? I feared that "Paranormal Activity" would be terrible based on the marketing campaign that helped bring in that box office bonanza. It reminded me too much of both "Cloverfield" and "The Blair Witch Project." Both of those movies also had clever marketing and, like this one, are faux documentaries using found video footage depicting the events. The former, I found quite overrated; the latter, I never saw in the theater but when I finally tried to watch it on cable I turned it off after no more than 30 minutes. With "Paranormal Activity," though, it works much better. A woman has been haunted since she was young, and her boyfriend sets up a video camera and other equipment in their bedroom to try and capture evidence of the hauntings. It starts out with a lighthearted tone as he cracks jokes and doesn't take it that seriously. As we see portions of each passing night, though, the tension is ratcheted up. I had an idea of how it might end, and my suspicion was confirmed. It didn't lessen my enjoyment, though. What is lessening my enjoyment is the news that Paramount is planning a sequel. My grade: A-minus.