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Paranormal Activity (2009)

~ Nikki Baughan

The camera never lies…

Ten years ago, a low-budget horror film came out of nowhere, caused a huge sensation and went nuclear at the box office – partly thanks to a (then) ground-breaking use of internet marketing techniques. The film was, of course,The Blair Witch Project, which revolutionised the genre by using supposedly real hand-held camera footage of horrifying events happening to normal people in the backwoods of Maryland. A decade on and Paranormal Activity is following in its footsteps, and  while it may be riding a huge wave of  hype that has seen it do stellar business at the US box office, it packs no less of a terrifying punch, particularly because it moves that ultra-real horror into a domestic setting.

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The Haunting in Connecticut (DVD)

~ Nikki Baughan

True-life supernatural events have long proved tempting fodder for film-makers; movies like The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose have all been based on the horrors suffered by real people – all with a bit of dramatic license thrown in, of course. And while Peter Cornwell’s dramatization of the spooky ordeal faced by the Reed family back in the 1980s isn’t quite as scary as finding a ghost in your spare room, its atmospheric chills may send a shiver or two up the spine.

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