Paranormal Longevity?

[Jorl]

I'm yet to see it, but last month saw the release of Paranormal Activity 3, the latest in a long line of what could arguably be defined as both horror and realism.

Based on return on investment, The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, like them or not, have become two of the most successful films ever made. But why? Aside from the obvious low budget production, how is it that these two films, who as far as I can tell have as many critics as fans, continue to generate revenue, spawn sequels and inspire more and more handheld horrors?

Off the top of my head, I can think of Grave Encounters, Atrocious and the Rec franchise as the latest horrors employing the shaky cam documentary convention over the last year or two. So what is it that makes the combination of realism and horror so successful?

 

[Vicarious Reality]

You kind of answered your own question in the last sentence.
Because it's realistic in a way few have portrayed before.

The less believable and exposed the antagonist ... brain freeez

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Movies reflect society. They represent the cultural attitudes of the nation that made them, and whilst movies are still coloured by their individual flavours they are always marketed to the public as things we should want to see.

Given long standing economic woes that are really starting to bite in places which have -dominated- the film industry (US, France, Britain, Germany- Great example of this and other points labelled below? Wir Sind Die Nacht(2010)), I think more and more people no longer can relate so well with the 'Two hours in make up-Rich Guys' playing in another sterile, glossy film production that tries to recreate the world in shades that people no longer know.

We see this in other artforms too, Dadaism arising out of the cold bleakness and the harsh realizations of the cost of conflict that was the Great War.

I think movies like paranormal activity try to tug at people's heartstrings by showing a world viewed more darkly by the average citizenry.

A world which is kafkaesque in it's unassailability, and of which these unseen forces are completely without ability to be placated or be reasoned with in any logical or intellectual fashion.

They just are... a force that is as primal in it's wants and as uncaring as the storms of nature. They are solely designed to inflict upon the common Man with an innate predatory instinct or intelligence

People are feeling vulnerable. Confronted by multiple problems, a fear of what may become, and Paranormal Activity movies capaitalise on possibly the last sanctuaries many of us have. The home and family unit. Is it any wonder then that people would want to see how a common man may triumph (or fall) to these unassailable horrors as some beacon of hope they too can also confront unseen demons in their own life?

People already fear thew unknown, and shelter (along with sources of food and water) is the base foundation for which the human psyche is geared towards protecting at all cost. So if you want to make something scary and to be relateable to 90% of the public the idea of a threat within your very home (already in the minds of many with falling land prices, excruciating predatory loans, and other factors) is of course all too real.