Writer: Shane Van Dyke
Director: Shane Van Dyke
Decide the truth for yourself
Ellen lives with her two adult children, Samantha and Thomas. Her husband David died a year ago, but recently Ellen has thought he’s been communicating with her. But then things started turning nasty… Whilst waiting for the arrival of a vacationing psychic investigator, Thomas starts recording events on video. With cameras in the bedrooms he captures what’s going on at night as things slowly get more violent.
Yes, Paranormal Entity is another [[found footage]] movie. Given the synopsis and the title, comparisons with Paranormal Activity (2007) are unavoidable. The two films really are very similar – but they also have a lot of differences. Entity is more ‘in your face’ than Activity with more action and screaming. It lacks Activity’s slow, relentless build up of tension and as a result I found it less scary. On the other hand, Entity is superior in terms of both story and characters. The two main actors – Fia Perara as Ellen and Erin Marie Hogan as Samantha – both give great performances. Director Shane Van Dyke is behind the camcorder as Thomas.
Unfortunately the ending is a little bit of a let down. We’re told at the beginning where the story is heading and there are no last minute surprises. I had my own twisted ideas about a possible final reveal, but it didn’t happen.
A lot of people will probably dismiss Paranormal Entity as at best a clone and at worst a rip-off of Paranormal Activity. That’s a shame. Taken in its own right, Paranormal Entity is a superior piece of spooky found footage.