Paranormal Activity: it’s cheap but is it any good?

The US horror movie Paranormal Activity, made on a micro-budget, is the most profitable film of all time - seemingly against all odds. First-time director Oren Peli's film, which was made in 2006 for under $15,000, was only given a US-wide release this year after one million fans backed it in a frenzied viral campaign. Championed by Steven Spielberg, it then stormed to the top of the US box office, raking in $100m within weeks.

Beyond the hype it seems that most critics, like the millions who have seen the film in the US, agree that Paranormal Activity is a genuinely scary and suspenseful horror - despite the fact that it spills barely a drop of blood.

Paranormal Activity is set in the home of a young San Diego couple, day trader Micah (Micah Sloat) and his student girlfriend Katie (Katie Featherstone). Increasingly disturbed by things which go bump in the night, the couple set up a video camera to record any nocturnal disturbances. Soon, what appears to be a demonic presence terrorising the couple is captured on camera and the tension escalates.

Most film reviewers point out that Paranormal Activity's premise is not particularly original in terms of content or style - countless comparisions have been made with the 1999 low-budget horror The Blair Witch Project - but applaud Peli's film for creating a surprisingly effective sense of dread.

The Independent's Guy Adams wrote: "If you judge a movie by its ability to deliver on a promise, then Paranormal Activity, which