Paranormal Activity

2007

86 mins

Directed by Oren Peli
83%
57%
Horror
Thriller

From first time director Oren Peli, found footage horror Paranormal Activity tracks the story of a young couple who move into... More

From first time director Oren Peli, found footage horror Paranormal Activity tracks the story of a young couple who move into what seems like a typical suburban house until they become increasingly disturbed by a presence they experience in the middle of the night.

In the style of The Blair Witch Project, all of the low budget handi-cam footage is presented as if it had been discovered after the fact, shot by the couple as they experience these strange happenings. Shot on a miniscule budget of $15,000, Paranormal Activity went on to gross $193 million worldwide, and inspired equally successful sequels. To date the four films in the series, made for just over $13 million altogether, have earned $714 million.

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Where to watch Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity is available to stream in the United Kingdom... More now on Prime Video and Amazon Video and Google TV and Now and YouTube and Sky Go and Chili and Microsoft.

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Paranormal Activity | Ratings & Reviews

83_%211 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
57_%274,363 reviews
Audience score rating

"Paranormal succeeds in staying unnervingly "real.""

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Variety

"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."

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Time Magazine

"With a $15,000 budget too puny to empty a petty-cash drawer, the no-frills Paranormal Activity comes packed with thrills."

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Rolling Stone

"An ingenious little horror film, so well made it's truly scary."

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Roger Ebert

"Peli works at mining the unknown, the unknowable, like a minimalist, using small moments and virtually no special effects exceedingly well."

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Los Angeles Times

"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."

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