15 Overhyped Movies You Wish You'd Not Watched
2. Paranormal Activity
When Paranormal Activity first made its debut, the hype machine told audiences that this was one of the scariest movies they'll ever see, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Paranormal Activity is little more than a plotless, emotionless sequence of loud noises and doors slamming, all captured by the single most annoying camera operator in the history of the subgenre. In the years between The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, there weren't an awful lot of found-footage films so perhaps the concept was still fresh enough to frighten some audiences.
That's the only way to explain the astonishing success of what is easily one of the most overhyped films ever released in any genre. It's one of those films that was blown so far out of proportion that it was hard not to feel cheated and lied to once the film actually arrived.
Paranormal Activity was a waste of time that somehow became one of the most profitable movies ever, and the film's godawful legacy - it inspired a dreadful franchise and many, many terrible imitators - only makes it feel even worse in hindsight.