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.
90
Film Threat
Film Threat
This is a brutal, exhausting, and genuinely horrifying little ghost flick.
80
VarietyDennis Harvey
VarietyDennis Harvey
Paranormal succeeds in staying unnervingly "real."
Peli works at mining the unknown, the unknowable, like a minimalist, using small moments and virtually no special effects exceedingly well.
80
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
L.A. WeeklyChuck 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.
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rolling StonePeter Travers
With a $15,000 budget too puny to empty a petty-cash drawer, the no-frills Paranormal Activity comes packed with thrills.
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.
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Miami HeraldRene 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.
60
The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
"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.