“The Quiet Ones,” a new horror film mimicking the cinematography of “Paranormal Activity,” follows Brian McNeil (Sam Claflin, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”), who is recruited by a team of scientists: Professor Coupland (Jared Harris, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”), Krissi Dalton (Erin Richards, “Open Grave”) and Harry Abrams (Rory Fleck-Byrne, “Vampire Academy”) as they conduct experiments on a young girl. They believe  the girl has pent-up negative energy that she is manifesting into a young girl only she can see, and that if they cure her, they will cure all mankind of mental illness.
The film follows the group, who reside in Oxford, England, as they set up camp in an old abandoned house to have privacy as they experiment on Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke, “The Signal”), who believes Coupland saved her and wants to be cured so that she can live a normal life. As McNeil films the experiments, tensions arise within the group as strange occurrences keep happening, convincing everyone except there is more to Harper and her manifestations than simple negative energy. Along with these strange and dangerous occurrences, the beginnings of tender emotions between McNeil and Harper add to the tensions within the group, resulting in a dangerous fight that serves as a catalyst for an explosive ending.
The film is based on a true story of a group of scientists in the early 1900s, a fact that tends to add fear to audience emotions when viewing horror films, and resembled movies such as “Paranormal Activity” and “The Blair Witch Project,” which are both found-footage films, viewing what is intended to be a portrayal of real events. The audience is allowed to see the original group of scientists and Harper at the end, as if to add validity to the statement that this film is based on real accounts, a fact easily disputed by true skeptics that do not believe in paranormal activity.
While the film holds a few moments that cause the audience to jump and may be considered extremely frightening by audience members who truly believe in ghosts, spirits, possession and the like, the film leaves something to be desired. It starts off extremely slow, and rather than picking up speed, it appears to get even slower with the action sequences. Most horror films hit a climax and continue at that climactic speed for the remainder of the film, leaving the audience jumpy and possibly even evoking a few screams from members. “The Quiet Ones” comes off as a disappointment in that every time something major happens, leaving the audience bracing for something scary, the film is fast-paced for about five minutes and then dies back down to the same routines and scenes that seemed to be on repeat. There were a few parts of the film where audience members were actually seen yawning, waiting for the next big moment, as the film left the audience quiet, rather than screaming in terror.
It gets to a point where the characters themselves become predictable, so that when certain events or interactions happen between characters, they do not come as much of a surprise, which is extremely anti-climactic of a typical horror film. While the previews for the movie portrayed an action-packed film of events that would leave the audience on the edge of their seats or covering their faces in anticipation, the actual film itself is the exact opposite, and the ending, while also eventually predictable, also leaves something to be desired.
While the film itself does not live up to usual horror film expectations, the cast is made up of prominent actors and actresses that portray their characters to the best of their ability and closely resemble the original group of scientists the characters are based on. The music in the film is also well composed, evoking feelings of suspense and anticipation within the audience throughout the film.
Unless viewers are true believers of paranormal entities and scare easily, there is a very strong possibility they will leave the film wishing for more.