Melissa James & Patrick Heusinger in Paranormal Activity | Photo by Johan Persson
I went into this assuming it was going to be a cheap-thrill theatrical stunt, with a series of gimmicky jump scares that would range from reasonably effective to pretty obnoxious. Produced by Melting Pot and presented by Mirvish, Paranormal Activity is more restrained, clever and emotionally compelling than it necessarily needs to be. As it’s based on the films, I was also anticipating a lot of projected video slapped onto the action to recreate the found footage genre element that defines the series. But this has theatrical ambitions of its own and a significantly dynamic visual identity. Continue Reading