Paranormal Activity Reviews
Los Angeles Times- Highly Recommended
"...In short, I assumed "Paranormal Activity," which just completed a run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, wasn't for me. Boy, was I wrong. The production, which opened at the Ahmanson Theatre on Friday under the direction of Felix Barrett, is brilliantly pulled off. I caught myself wondering during the first act, "Is this the best staged production of the year?""
Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended
"...I imagine most people's response to hearing that Paranormal Activity has been turned into a stage play is a raised eyebrow-doubt mixed with intrigue. How is that going to work? Horror-especially supernatural horror-isn't a genre you often find in theatre. It thrives in film, where the director has god-like control over time and space and can finely tune the audience's visual and auditory experience. In a live theatrical setting, however, you can't rely on jump cuts, close-ups, CGI, limitless locations, and so forth. Plus, this film series leans heavily on the "found footage" conceit to create a sense of modernity, intimacy, and credibility. On stage, we're limited to a static proscenium, practical effects, and finite sets."
Stage Scene LA- Highly Recommended
"...An American couple attempting to make a fresh start in London soon discover this is more easily said than done when things start going bump in the night in Levi Holloway's terrorific stage spinoff of the movie franchise Paranormal Activity, now scaring the living daylights out of thrill-and-chill-seeking Angelinos at the Ahmanson."
Angeles Stage- Somewhat Recommended
"...Levi Holloway’s script, directed by Felix Barrett, is a stage spinoff of a long-running film franchise. I recently watched the first, cheaply produced film in the series, set in San Diego instead of London. It appeared to be shot mostly on hand-held video cameras, and I felt closer to the action, perhaps because I was watching it in my living room instead of a fancy 2000-seat theater. But I remain largely uninterested in the whole idea of taking ghosts literally instead of more figuratively (as in “Our Town”)."
ArtsBeatLA- Highly Recommended
"...If you want to see a group of adults in an audience reduced to a mass of gibbering, scared teenagers, you’re going to love Paranormal Activity. Also they’re playing loud alternate rock in the usually staid Ahmanson lobbies and begin the show with a thunderous chunk of Radiohead’s “Just,” which is one of my favorite songs from that band. These last two facts may not appeal to everyone, but I personally was a happy camper."
TheaterMania- Recommended
"...A spine-tingling house of horrors lurks into the Ahmanson Theatre with the stage adaptation of Paranormal Activity. Based on the successful movie franchise, the eerie ghost tale relies on special effects and mood to make audience members scream, faint, and jump into their partner's lap. Just don't try to follow the plot."
Showmag- Highly Recommended
"...Judging by my companion whose gasps and fierce grabbing of my arm continued throughout the production, Paranormal Activity is a success in the grand tradition of ghost stories. Extremely low key, its dark and moody stage set helps create the illusion at the beginning that something unusual is about to happen."
Stage Raw- Highly Recommended
"...The Paranormal Activity film franchise has been around for a while, with the first film premiering in 2009 and culminating with the 2021 release of Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin. Created by Oren Peli, the series attracted a lot of fans and supporters over those years, as well as its share of detractors, who felt that the show’s found footage format and cache of mysterious scary occurrences had bottomed out on the “fright scale.”"
Ticket Holders LA- Highly Recommended
"...Still, without a doubt it is Fisher’s illusions that are the most impressive element of all in what makes this highly entertaining and innovative Paranormal Activity a production not to be missed and provides a memorable evening out that thrills and chills and actually scares the living begeezus out of anyone with a pulse and an interest in experiencing something unlike anything you’ve ever before seen unfold live and in person."
Larchmont Buzz- Highly Recommended
"...I had to remind myself to actually close my mouth after the first big scare. My partner and I have seen hundreds of horror films; this was the first time in years I was literally grabbing at his arm."
The Hollywood Times- Highly Recommended
"...The Center Theatre Group has pulled off a remarkable feat by bringing the Paranormal Activity franchise — an icon of found-footage horror — to the Ahmanson Theatre. This world premiere does not merely translate the films to a new medium. It reinvents them with a devious smile."
Nerds Of Color- Highly Recommended
"...So it goes without saying that my whole-hearted endorsement of this particular staged adaptation comes as a massive surprise to myself, even though it absolutely did not need the Paranormal Activity name brand as it has no connection to any of the seven(!?!) films in the series. And if there is one, it’s a very loose one at that. One however could make the argument that without a name brand, the budget for the horror magic and to create a most incredible two story house set design could not have been achieved. Wah wah."
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
"..."Paranormal Activity" came out of nowhere to be a pop culture phenomenon in 2009, spawning five sequels, one of the most solid horror franchises out there (excluding "Next of Kin," because, What was that??) On a $15,000 budget, it grossed more than $100 million, generated video games, a documentary, a Japanese entry in 2010, a podcast, and triggered the found-footage genre that "The Blair Witch Project" oddly didn't. And now this: a stage play."