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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Paranormal Activity
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 212 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Horror
Written by: Oren Peli
Directed by: Oren Peli
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 25, 2009
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language
Starring Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Friedrichs, Amber Armstrong, and Ashley Palmer
After a young, middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban “starter” tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. (Paramount Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
With its this-is-really-happening vibe, Paranormal Activity scrapes away 30 years of encrusted nightmare clichés. The fear is real, all right, because the fear is really in you.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Felix Vasques, Jr.
This is a brutal, exhausting, and genuinely horrifying little ghost flick.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
An ingenious little horror film, so well made it's truly scary.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
The film loses some of its grimy verisimilitude toward the end, but it’s nevertheless a surprisingly effective low-budget shocker with a sensibility as current as the latest viral videos, yet rooted in the suggestive, less-is-more atmospherics of Val Lewton.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Beyond the viral ingenuity of the marketing, what's cool about PA is that it's not just a fun thrill ride; it's an instructive artistic experience. A horror-movie revisionist, Peli follows a less-is-more strategy.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
Peli works at mining the unknown, the unknowable, like a minimalist, using small moments and virtually no special effects exceedingly well.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
Grounded by strong performances by newcomers Featherston and Sloat, who pretty much have the movie to themselves, Paranormal Activity, which demands to be seen in a crowded theater, is refreshingly blood-free.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams
It's a hit for the most surprising reason of all: because it's very good.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Tirdad Derakhshani
An impressive, not entirely successful exercise in minimalist filmmaking.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
With a $15,000 budget too puny to empty a petty-cash drawer, the no-frills Paranormal Activity comes packed with thrills.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Like legendary producer Val Lewton in the '40s, director Oren Peli, who shot "Paranormal" in seven days in his own home, understands that what's most frightening is what you don't see but merely suggested.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
No-frills chills are what Paranormal Activity offers in unrelenting supply.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Succeeds in its modest goals of building tension slowly and generating a handful of legitimate scares. A few people in the audience were laughing during the first half of the film. No one was laughing during the long walk out of the theater.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
I’ve never seen a movie that so cunningly exploits our anticipation.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
It comes by its screams honestly, earning them with incremental, at times agonizing gradations of old-fashioned, what's-that-noise-in-the-hallway suspense.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The movie's faults aside, this is the kind of show where half the fun is watching it in the company of a large group of people.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York Ben Kenigsberg
Often has the feel of a film-school exercise in which the object is to wring maximum suspense from rudimentary tools.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kevin Lally
"Paranormal" ultimately does deliver in a way that "Blair Witch" never did, but its achingly slow buildup is a test not just of an audience's patience but the power of hype surrounding the latest alternative scary movie.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
A "Blair Witch"-y creepshow that owes a lot to Japanese horror.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
A crudely made, half-clever little frightener that has become something of a pop-culture sensation and most certainly the movie marketing story of the year.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Justine Elias
Even at 85 minutes, the movie contains maybe 50 minutes that scare.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Don't believe the hype: Paranormal Activity may be a lot of things, but the words "scary" and "movie" are not among them. It is instead nothing more or less than an excruciatingly tedious YouTube gag cleverly marketed to go viral in the broadest and most box office-friendly way.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 212 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
critics Rmad gave it a2:
I'm easily scared by scary movies. The Ring left me traumatized for several months. This movie. Nothing. Not scary. Boring. It's great they were able to make this movie on such a small budget, but this isn't even close to the scariest things I've ever seen. Boring.
kiko c gave it an8:
I was amazed at how tense this movie got as the minutes went by. like other people have said, don't go into it expecting a typical hollywood flick, because this is exactly the opposite. the less is more gimmick is revived in full force. the beginning is slow but necessary for the setup, but the last 30 minutes of the film are just amazing. as low budget as it is, it more than makes up for it in the ingenuity the director shows with what he had to work with. the point is, go see this movie!
uncle pual gave it a0:
The trailer contains all the action of the film. Nothing happens. And then some boring predictable stuff does. Nothing is ever explained. Some spookiness thoughout by ghosties. The film is never scary nor good. Many parts are laughable Recommended for those who believe in hauntings and the paranormal. The rest can see it when it hits Red Box.
Joseph A gave it a1:
I'm still surprised at how many people are effectively saying that this movie is perfect. A ten out of ten means absolutely no flaws. Not only did this movie have flaws, the low budget everyone is heralding as the saving-grace of the film actually bogged it down. I really wish they used some decent special effects, honestly I do. It would have made the movie more interesting as well as more polished. I hated this movie after seeing the endiing, I hated what it stole from other films and what it could have been. Hearing people laugh AT the movie made me smile.
Terence b gave it a0:
Extremely slow and boring. i dont know why this scares so many people. This was THE most predictable horror movie I've ever seen. That as well as it being highly unrealistic, unoriginal, and repetitive, made the movie tedious with a total lack of scares.
zach c gave it a7:
Hype scares me more than any movie. It has the innate ability to either totally corrupt or empower a film. In this case, I wouldn't say the hype totally destroyed this film however it didn't measure up to what some of the critics were hailing it to be. There were definitely some scary moments and at one point I let out an empowered "what the fuck?!" but 'Paranormal' won't hold up on any all time list. Peli does put forth an amazing effort at utilizing minimum production for maximum effect, I'll give him that and the acting was incredibly organic and therefore believable. However, aside from the barrage of jump out scares this movie is a clever and plodding build-up to a somewhat obvious result. Definitely worth seeing, but by no means will this be locking arms with 'Exorcist' and 'The shining' at any point in the foreseeable future.
Colin K gave it a5:
"Paranormal Activity" is a low-budget, amateur attempt at a raw and shocking psychological horror film. It's riveting, but at the same time, it feels like the film embodies so many horror film cliches from past attempts ("The Blair Witch Project", "The Exorcist", and even Japanese movies such as "Ringu" are all clearly influences on this movie). It's frightening only in the same sense that dark hallways and randomly slamming doors are frightening. Beyond that, it's really a pretty boring movie. Just a couple... being a couple... on camera. After that, it's the couple arguing a lot, they begin going insane; you've heard it all before. Typical horror movie formula. I cannot lie; when the movie is scary, it really is pretty scary. However, it's mostly... not scary. It's mostly just the drama surrounding the fragile balance of sanity among the young couple. You spend most of the time watching (pretty much) nothing happening... just waiting for some noise or shadow to make you jump out of your shorts. That's pretty much the movie. Overall, good concept, poor execution. 5/10.
