A Review of Paranormal Entity (2009)

Paranormal Entity has been referred to as a mockbuster, a term given to films which are released to trail on the success of higher budget releases. In this case, production company The Asylum released Paranormal Entity to ride the wave of excitement caused by Paranormal Activity. Paranormal Activity, which got mixed reviews, was still a lower-budget horror film but it received a great deal of promotion and buzz. I found Paranormal Entity as one of the "instant watch" options to stream through my Wii. The description sounded like it could have been a decent film. The Asylum and the official description for the movie, claim that this film is comprised of actual footage found after the murder of teenager Samantha Finley, a murder for which her brother was convicted of. He later killed himself in prison. After the video was found people began to suspect that something supernatural had a hand in Samantha's rape and murder.

The Finley family is composed of the mother, Ellen Finley, Samantha, and the older brother Thomas. Thomas rarely appears on camera, as he is usually the one following around Samantha and the mother making his own film about the supernatural happenings in the home. The acting in the film is almost unbearable and Samantha's character must be trying to compensate for this by walking around scantily clad throughout the movie. I find this to be very creepy given that her brother is often a witness to her being in her unmentionables. Some very scary things are taking place in the home and most of the entity's aggression is taken out on Samantha in the night. The mother also sleepwalks, caught on film writing "Maron" on a crumpled piece of paper that is found later and the coffee table. The family remains in the home while Ellen tries to contact her vacationing doctor despite the danger of being hurt by a spirit. Samantha finds weird bruises on her body and at one point her brother locates her standing in the attic in her bra and panties, unaware of how she got there. Dad's ashes are found on the floor and footprints made from those ashes are found walking on the ceiling. At one point Samantha and Ellen go to a hotel, leaving Thomas to hold down the fort in their absence. He sets up a trip system of bells, which the spirit mocks by throwing them at him. Mother and daughter return early in terror after the ghost followed them. The violence begins to escalate as Ellen is found with slit wrists, still holding the weapon. After she leaves for the hospital, Thomas and Samantha consult an expert in the paranormal. This expert confirms what everyone watching knows: there's something evil in the house and it's after Samantha. He tells them that "maron" is Germanic for "nightmare" and that Samantha is being attacked by an incubus. He tells them that he is going to help them, but he doesn't specify exactly what is going to happen. The next thing you know, the expert is dead. Thomas, camera still in hand, hears Samantha's screams and rushes to see what's going on. She's levitating, covered in blood, and under attack. Thomas drops the camera to try to help her, but he's too late. Something unknown picks up the camera and points it at Samantha's face, the scene depicted on the dvd cover.

I was expecting the acting to be bad, but sometimes that's a good thing in horror movies. Not the case here. The sketchy plot holes and the screenplay didn't help make the movie any more tolerable.