You should see more paranormal shows. It makes it more believable. All the paranormal docs I have seen state that Demonic possession starts with scratching on the walls, banging and so on. Emily rose, ghost hunters, Possession, Paranormal state, a haunting. all of these have a hint of so called truth to them. The movie would be really lame if some huge demon walked out and created carnage. This is supposed to be believable. I havnt seen the movie yet only read a script, and I can tell you that I dont really trust your review because of the line: the demon is really a lot more like a noisy neighbor than a thing of dread and darkness. This is a demon, presumably from the Pit of Hell™©, right, so why does it content itself with making silly knocking noises. Its obvious you wanted a cgi monster flick. There are plenty of those for you to review. Do some research get interested in the genre and maybe you will like it. Its all your opinion in the end.

any idea if the version you saw was the "revised ending" version that isn't the same as the one the audience at Screamfest watched?

i've heard rumors of PActivity being softened slightly, but have no real way of knowing.

Keith, dude, ghosts and stuff aren't real. There's no "so-called truth" to any of this ****. Paranormal shows claim to be "scientific," but saying "well, I can't figure out what's causing this cold spot, so it HAS TO BE GHOSTS" isn't how science works. Those shows are crap.

I agree that hype can kill a film. You mentioned Cloverfield in your article - I thought it was pretty rubbish (mainly the acting was awful) but the trailer made it look amazing.

I am a big fan of shows like Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State and Ghost Advenutes. In these shows when there appears to be demonic activity, it normally invoves poltergeist activity (banging etc).

HOWEVER these shows also use EMF detectors to directly communicate with the presence. I aqm no director, but I would like to think Paranormal Activity has a set piece involving a K2 unit and the demon. That would be fricking awesome.

Tripp - based on the K2 I respecfully disagree wirh you.

first:
this film has several endings. read here for synopsis of original ending etc. WARNING SPOILERS
http://daveguzman.blogspot.com/2009/08/endings-of-paranormal-activity.html

second:
wow, what a bunch of morons. wouldnt think u d get naive fartheads like this on a film blog for PA/genre film. go back to ur tv and watch those bogus spooky shows so u can hide under ur blanket later. grow the F up.

Tripp, Why even comment on this board? I know you can but its obvious you will not like this film. You can have yo0ur opinion on whether ghost are real or not but like Dave said all of those shows have banging, scratching, doors slamming etc when it comes to demonic hauntings. I also believe you should re-read my comment before you make one. I put the line "all of these have a hint of so called truth to them" I personally believe in the paranormal but I did leave it open just for idiots like you. Shouldn't you be at the biography channels site?

hmmm. I think the fact that it doesn't have a massive demon leaping up from the depths of hell makes it all the more appealing and believable. I'm still hyped about seeing it!!

Check out BBC's Ghostwatch and old Sweedish movie The Visitors - looks like this is mixture of both...

It's not that I think the film should have had a big scary monster in it, cgi and all that. In fact, I usually prefer psychological approach/hidden threat. It's the non-scary execution of the psy. approach that bothered me.
Soma I'd be really interested to hear what you reckon to the movie!

hopefully we'll get some screenings soon in the UK.

It makes sense that it is less scary to someone who is sane (doesn't believe in ghosts and the supernatural).

It does NOT make sense that therefore you should let someone who does, review the movie. As if it is solely and exclusively the domain of people who believe in ghosts, and should not be able to enjoy people who don't...

In short, the people complaining that the person who reviewed it isn't into the genre. That is bull****, someone random off the streets should be able to enjoy any truly good movie, not just the people that believe in this ****.

Regardless, the reviewer even points out he respects the filmmaker for making the movie in such a way as it is made, just personally didn't find it scary.

Hardly a reason to burn him down for.

Also, if you actually believe in ghosts, grow up. :)

Wow Muffit, way to act like a presumptious dolt. How do you know that the paranormal isn't real? Are you the smartest purson evur on teh internetz? I don't think so. And plenty of sane people believe in the paranormal just like plenty of sane people believe in God. I'll bet you think Christians, Jews, and Hindus are insane as well? I'm glad I'm not you then.

I do agree with Keith that according to the experts in demonology, demons do not rise from their pits of hell, red-horned, and ready to eat infant hearts. They aren't even corporeal in our realm(hence being invisible and needing a human host to posess). They also specialize in manipulation, which is exactly what the movie's demon does. He manipulates this couple, feeds off their growing negavtive energy, and then goes in for the kill at the worst moment...ie: when there is a hope for escape and the audience is given a moment of relief.

It's actually an accurate rendering of a demon terrorization as defined by the experts in the paranormal field.

It made not have been the OP's cup of tea but his opinion should be just be based on that he didn't find it scary not because he was let down that the demon wasn't "brought to life" like a bad SyFy Channel movie or video game. He obviously doesn't know anything about demonology as an actual field of research. That's fine, now he knows and he can go learn about it to his heart's content...or not. It's fine either way.

I just take offence to Muffit's suggestion that anyone who believes in something beyond the mundane tangible existance of everyday life is insane. THAT'S insane. I'll keep my God and my ghosts, thank you very much.

I also had a HUGGGGEEEE problem with Micah not being scared. It ruined the movie for me. This movie was done in a way that the characters behaviour MUST be believable for the movie to work.

Remember right after the powder on the floor scene, with the duck like footprints entering the room......following that, Micah wants to go in the attic, after he see's that the attic door has been moved.
NO WAY IN HELL....you couldn't get an entire NFL team to stay in that house after that!

I know people have trouble dealing with how Micah wasn't scared, but did anyone feel that Kate's performance was sub par?

When she watches the video the day after she went into the swing, you can see her try to be concerned and scared. If something had possessed me and I stood for over and hour over my bed swaying and then left the house... that would be it. I call the demon guy immediately or go seek some serious Jesus. I guess that would ruin the pacing of the movie, but that's what I feel a normal person would do.

Both actors felt really cheesy to me.

i just finished this film about 5 minutes ago and now i am googling to find more info on the various endings.

i must say that at the point when i am seeing 3 toed demon footprints in my bedroom, im done playing house, it's time to call in some churchies or paranormal investigators... but instead micah is like,"i'm gonna go clean this up"

SERIOUSLY WTF? you have obtained clear and concise PHYSICAL AND VIDEO EVIDENCE of paranormal activity and ur just gonna clean it up? i usually try to go along with most films for the enjoyment of it but after that point i just got sick of the taste of bull**** being spoon fed to me.

if you can ignore common sense the way this movie does then i am sure you can enjoy the phychological thrillride of it. but remember they are wanting you to believe it is actual footage of a real event. lawlz.

I enjoyed the entire movie except for 2 parts. The part where Micah "researches" and finds the story of the gril from the 60's who had the same things happen to her, really killed the movie for me. This concept has been done TO FREAKING DEATH! "Oh noes, this has all happened before, here's a loose-plot filling explanation for the 1 person in the crowd who doesn't know what's going on..." That entire scene should have been removed, and the movie would've been scarier for it.

The second part that killed it for me, was the ending. I'm sorry, after the couple run downstairs, scream, and go silent, we should NOT have seen them again. It should have faded to black, maybe with just the footsteps. That really bad CG "monster face" she makes at the camera almost had me laughing out loud. I was expecting one of the Wayans brothers to appear onscreen and make some about it.

I saw a third version that I have yet to see discussed on any spoiler board. In the one I saw, Katie wakes up, watches Micah for several hours, goes downstairs. Micah awakens to hearing her shrieking violently downstairs. He runs downstairs, there are more screams, and then all goes silent.

Nxt we hear heavy footsteps as Katie walks back to the bedroom with blood on her shirt and a knife in her hand. She proceeds to sit next the bed & rock back & forth for hours (it's daylight now) until we hear a knock at the front door, which apparently is her sister who hasn't heard from her and was worried. The sister enters the house, apparently screams upon finding Micah (again we see none of this - all we are seeing is Katie rocking next to the bed through the camera) and leaves the house shrieking.

Not long after, there is heavy banging on the door, and it is the police - apparently the sister must have gotten them after finding Micah 7 escaping the house. The police find Micah, report it on their walkies (again, during this entire time - from when katie walks into the room with the blood & knife through the arrival of the police, the only thing we see is Katie rocking next to the bed on the floor). The police, weapons drawn climb the stairs announcing "Police!" When they see Katie rocking & address her, she immediately stands up and lunges toward them yelling "Micah?!!" not with the intent to hurt them, just as though awakening from her confused trance.

As she lunges towards them with the knife, the police shoot her dead. In the final moments, we see them check the rest of the rooms through the eye of the camera which has a clear view down the hall from the open bedroom door, next to which Katie's dead body lies.

The police realize there is nobody else there, and one walks toward the camera as the screen fades to black announcing to the other cop something along the lines of "Hey you gotta see this" upon noticing that there is a video camera recording the whole thing. Then movie ends, no credits, just simple disclaimer of fictitiousness.

I wish I saw either of the other two endings. They both sound better, particularly the demon face.

One final note, I wish Blair Witch had done the same thing with the ending credits. When I saw that in the theater I was scared outta of mind until you see scrolling lines of "key grip" and "gaffer" etc. Had there been a simple disclaimer and no credits like there was with PA, I'd have been WAY more terrified by Blair Witch. I actually DID think it was true until I saw those credits. That totally ruined BW for me. Either way, I want to see the 2 other endings of PA.

Didn't mean to type "the sister must have gotten them after finding Micah 7 escaping the house." Forgot to hit SHIFT+7, so sentence should read "sister must have gotten them after finding Micah & escaping the house". Micah was dead when she found him in the house - to clarify, the sister escaped, not Micah.

wrd sonn belive and dnt hate =/ just plain tired of ihtt any ways hiit me uhppz are welcome .. deadlysmilezz412 AND THIS MOVIE SCARED THE SEXII OUTTA ME ! . but im still gorgiuouse iiLy yu talyor forever and always Peacee shunn <3

Its soo scareyy if you haventt seen it watch itt now :) loveee yassss :):):) xxx