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Poster for Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity

What happens when you sleep?

2007 · 1h 26m · R Horror, Mystery
Directed by Oren Peli

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Overview

After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
83%
Tomatometer
Fresh

The climax is deliciously scary, and Peli gets considerable mileage from the simple matter of lights inexplicably going on in another room.

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Fresh

It illustrates one of my favorite points, that silence and waiting can be more entertaining than frantic fast-cutting and berserk f/x. For extended periods here, nothing at all is happening, and believe me, you won't be bored.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh

It's this feeling of vulnerability that Peli's slow-burning supernatural chiller so effectively exploits, fashioning heart-stopping scares out of almost nothing.

Nigel Floyd, Time Out
Fresh

Though it never poses a question more abstract than "Where's that scratching sound coming from?" Paranormal Activity is all about spiritual and ethical debts coming due.

Dana Stevens, Slate
Fresh

Peli is to be congratulated for pulling off such an audacious project, but he needs a sharper sense of timing: The film's pacing is uneven, which weakens the suspense.

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer

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