By Robert Yaniz Jr.

Ten years ago, The Blair Witch Project became a phenomenon, earning more than $140 million nationwide with its faux-documentary style and shaky handheld camerawork. Now, Paranormal Activity applies the same technique to the story of a young couple living in what may very well be a haunted house.

Much like Blair Witch, the film halfheartedly tries to convince audiences that the events onscreen are not a manufactured story but true records of an actual occurrence, even opening with a line of thanks from the studio to the families of the two main characters and the police.

So right from the get-go, audiences know that the future will not be bright for Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston), as they set up a camera in their bedroom to capture supernatural events that they suspect may occur in the wee hours of the night.

Although the entire film is told from the perspective of the camera, much of it takes place as its main characters sleep, allowing whatever entity might be present in their house to roam freely, detected only by the cameras ever-watchful eye.

What Worked

With a cast of unknowns and a voyeuristic visual style, Paranormal Activity strives to suck viewers into the home life of its two principal characters. Micah and Katie argue, they crack jokes at each other and they even engage in some off-camera lovin, giving the film a realistic tone that intends to make its supernatural aspects that much more terrifying. Sloat and Featherston -- the latter in particular -- turn in fine performances and are completely believable, and their dialogue possesses enough authenticity to make the situation feel real.

What Didn't Work

However, while the realistic tone of Paranormal Activity may be on target, it doesnt change the fact that viewers spend much of its runtime simply watching Micah and Katie sleep, only to be rewarded with something as simple as a low rumbling or a creaking door.

The cycle of watching each night pass by as the spirit becomes more aggressive soon becomes tiresome and, as the film continues, predictable. As Micah continues to devise new ways to test for the spirits presence, most viewers will find themselves coming to expect the so-called shocking moments the film presents.

Paranormal Activity has been the subject of an increasingly popular guerrilla marketing campaign, wherein audiences are encouraged to demand it in their city, and thus far, the hype seems to be yielding a positive reaction from audiences and critics alike. But while Blair Witch could be considered innovative for its shaky camera presentation, Paranormal Activity does not have this luxury.

Although the filmmakers likely figured they could coast on the novelty of this approach, films such as Cloverfield and Quarantine have made the technique all but mainstream, and Paranormal Activity offers little that audiences havent seen a million times before in better, sharper films.

Only in its final moments does Paranormal Activity show any indication of the kind of creepfest the film could have been if it had only dared. Its ending is indeed chilling and memorable, but by that time, its too little too late.

While by no means a bad film, Paranormal Activity promises to deliver something different and fresh that moviegoers havent experienced, and to that end, it falls short, serving only to underscore the fact that the film is more satisfying as a marketing ploy than a movie-going experience.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Paranormal Activity stars Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat. It was written and directed by Oren Peli. Paranormal Activity is currently in limited release.