If The Blair Witch Project inspired the handheld camera movement towards the end of the '90s, it was Paranormal Activity that brought "life" back into the then ailing subgenre back in 2007, inadvertently restarting the craze all over again (we might've chosen Spanish horror flick (Rec) in place of Paranormal Activity here, but felt that this particular movie - and its sequels - had a tad more influence on the decade). Paranormal Activity did two things, then. The first, as previously mentioned, saw the movie breathing new life into the very saturated and notably lackluster handheld camera horror flicks of the time. Secondly, it reaffirmed horror cinema's ability to make low budget movies that - through word of mouth - are able to make back their budgets to the degree of 500%. In essence, Activity this was The Blair Witch of the '00s.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
