I'm shocked! The hype, the box office numbers, the trailers with test audiences gasping in terror. What the hell? Did I walk into the right movie? If you haven't gathered yet, it's all bull. "Paranormal Activity" is my current pick for most overrated film of the year and I doubt i'll see a bigger over-hyped and dull waste of time. This is another in a line of "real" scary movies like "Blair Witch Project" and "Open Water", overrated films but no where near as bad as this one. The formula is simple. Hand-held camera plus unknown actors plus cheap production costs and you've got yourself a movie. "Cloverfield" was the last movie to use it and did it better than any.

"Activity" is more like the previous two, centering on a couple played by Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston. Since girlhood, Katie has been plagued by this ghost and it seems as though it's followed her into her home with fiancée Micah. He thinks this is silly but must be recorded nonetheless. He captures everything during the day, and sets up the camera in the bedroom at night, which is good cause this ghost seems to be a night person. (Most of the movie is filmed in single-frame, night-vision, getting most of the bedroom and outside hallway). A psychic (Mark Fredrichs) tells them not to try and contact it, but they soon realize it's angry, dangerous, and staying. The stress of the situation soon puts the couple at odds.

This could have been more interesting had director/writer Oren Pelli decided to scratch creating a fake-real-life situation in favor of a more traditional ghost story (maybe give the ghost some back-story, who is it, etc). Instead, Pelli just turns to a string of tedious ghostly clichés. The bedroom door moves, lights flicker, the couple sprinkles white powder along the floor (think they'll see white foot-prints later?). I'm surprised he didn't go with something levitating in mid-air. "Love Happens" was scarier than this movie. It's like Pelli is less keen on scaring than in continuously proving there is in fact a ghost in the house. The only fun I had was trying to guess what object (again, mostly in single frame) was going to move next or if this spirit gets kinky (the bed sheets also move on occasion). "Paranormal" threatens to get interesting at times (Katie possessed was a nice start) but then, like the rest of the movie, holds back. Both actors offer inauthentic performances and will never be seen in anything again. The ending is good but is just five seconds in a 90 minute movie. What else can I say? I want my money back.

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