Paranormal Activity review: A dead good, edge-of-your-seat, thrill ride
Published on 18 December 2025
Plunged into pitch black nothingness, we listen to a softly spoken radio host. She asks us questions and asks us to question our answers. Under her instructions we then meditate as a group. We breathe in, we breathe out, we breathe in, we breathe out, we breathe in, and then we hold it for the next two hours…
This isn’t the first time audiences have had their nerves tested at the Ambassadors, Andy Nyman’s Olivier nominated Ghost Stories haunted the Edwardian theatre six years ago, while last year’s Enfield Haunting had people fearing for their lives (though, perhaps not in the way they were hoping…). It’s 2025, the frost is creeping in and the ghosts are back. However this time it is the people that are haunted, not the place. There is no escape for the new homeowners, James (Patrick Heusinger) and Lou (Melissa James).
The show's title may be familiar, but the story won’t be. Set in the same world as the 2007 film, this Paranormal Activity follows an American couple, James and Lou, as they move to London to escape their demons. It is only when they arrive that they realise that the paranormal won’t be shaken-off so easily.
Unlike Peli’s early noughties film, which relied heavily on technology for its scares, this production fully embraces theatre as a live event (which is ironic, given the subject matter). Chris Fisher’s practical illusions are incredible. His use of a dressing gown and chopping board will have the staunchest of skeptics believing in the other realm. There are several applause breaks during the play (perhaps made by the same people who clap when the plane lands, thankful that the frightening ordeal is over and they survived) as the audience appreciates the magic (dark or otherwise) that they have witnessed in front of their (hand covered) eyes.
Punchdrunk’s Felix Barrett is no stranger to the immersive, of creating new and exciting worlds, and here he has proved he can do it when the audience are firmly in their seats (or sat on the edge of them). The director knows how to manipulate his audience, one minute we’re giddy the next we’re god-fearing. The show effortlessly shifts from observations on TK (or TJ) Maxx to the existence of god, of the existential questions that plague us in the depths of the night.
It’s a spectacular edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that takes pleasure in dangling you between dread and delight. And dead good fun, if you’re brave enough.
Paranormal Activity haunts the Ambassadors Theatre until 28 March 2026.
