Paranormal Activity West End Reviews

The original Leeds cast do what they can with stereotypical material that barely contains anything that draws us in. Performances are committed and sincere, but they are sunk by underwritten characters who exist mainly to announce their emotional sta...

The original Leeds cast do what they can with stereotypical material that barely contains anything that draws us in. Performances are committed and sincere, but they are sunk by underwritten characters who exist mainly to announce their emotional states. At separate points, James and Melissa solemnly inform the other that they “don’t even recognise who you are anymore”. This is less subtext and more an instruction manual. Horror relies on empathy, and it’s hard to care about people when the script seems barely acquainted with them itself.

The script may be perfunctory, and some of it is deeply hammy, but its flaws are forgivable for such a dexterous production, with every technical element ramping up tension and toying with expectations. Every jump scare is earned, every trick embedde...

The script may be perfunctory, and some of it is deeply hammy, but its flaws are forgivable for such a dexterous production, with every technical element ramping up tension and toying with expectations. Every jump scare is earned, every trick embedded in the twisted narrative of this poor, doomed couple. And the fear lingers. When I wake at 3am to a strange light in my bedroom, I pull the duvet tight around my head, refusing to reopen my eyes and repeating to myself that it was just a play.

The Ambassadors Theatre’s intimate setting works well for this type of claustrophobic horror. Fly Davis’s two-storey set design of the couple’s home is realistic and intricately detailed. You can’t help but scan every corner for something lur...

The Ambassadors Theatre’s intimate setting works well for this type of claustrophobic horror. Fly Davis’s two-storey set design of the couple’s home is realistic and intricately detailed. You can’t help but scan every corner for something lurking. The production opts for a slow-burn, with suspense building through prolonged silences and creeping shadows. Chris Fisher brings masterful illusion tricks that leave the audience audibly gasping. Their execution is expertly managed in conjunction with Anna Watson’s lighting design and Gareth Fry’s intense sound design, which heighten our sense of unease.

There’s some pretty jaw-dropping stuff I’d best not even obliquely describe. But on the whole it avoids manipulative jump scares in favour of unnerving moments of rug pulling, where what you assumed was happening in a scene is revealed to be horr...

There’s some pretty jaw-dropping stuff I’d best not even obliquely describe. But on the whole it avoids manipulative jump scares in favour of unnerving moments of rug pulling, where what you assumed was happening in a scene is revealed to be horrifyingly off the mark. And the creepy atmosphere stuff is second to none, from subtle things – the play of light reflected from passing vehicles creates the sense of movement in the house at night – to full on: it opens in pitch darkness, with Nirvana’s ‘Lithium’ raging around us, a truly weird experience, elated and suffocating at once.

Winslow is used in a particularly creepy way, as we begin to distrust everything we’re seeing. These tech-savvy ghosts are dab hands at controlling the TV feed and telephone. The experience depends heavily on Gareth Fry’s sound design, which crea...

Winslow is used in a particularly creepy way, as we begin to distrust everything we’re seeing. These tech-savvy ghosts are dab hands at controlling the TV feed and telephone. The experience depends heavily on Gareth Fry’s sound design, which creates a bed of unease with blaring shocks at the very top end of West End volume limits. The story works pretty well – but it’s essentially an engine to spring nasty surprises on the audience. In the best tradition of spooky theatre at this time of year, it sends you out huddling in your coat before you’ve even left the building.

Indeed, there’s a paint-by-numbers feel to much of the writing, not least as it pertains to these Americans’ view of London: the weather (tick), the food (huh?). A Brexit reference feels irrelevant to our focus on a marriage built on shifting san...

Indeed, there’s a paint-by-numbers feel to much of the writing, not least as it pertains to these Americans’ view of London: the weather (tick), the food (huh?). A Brexit reference feels irrelevant to our focus on a marriage built on shifting sand into which both husband and wife are sinking, though the leading players chart their shared uncertainty appealingly and well. Heusinger – a veteran of this role – deserves special praise for coming in at the 11th hour in what marks the Juilliard graduate’s West End debut.

Where the production truly leans into its strengths is in its theatricality. This is a production that understands what live theatre can offer horror: not just performance, but space and sound too. Flickering lights, darkness and sudden bursts of noi...

Where the production truly leans into its strengths is in its theatricality. This is a production that understands what live theatre can offer horror: not just performance, but space and sound too. Flickering lights, darkness and sudden bursts of noise all contribute to the uneasy atmosphere, but the design is doing much of the heavy lifting.