Review of Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) by Thunder C — 07 May 2016

"The activity has officially worn off".

DVD Movie Review: Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.

Date Viewed: January 17 2016.

Directed By Gregory Plotkin.

Screenplay By Jason Harry Pagan, Andrew Deutschman, Adam Robitel and Gavin Hefferman, Story By Brantley Aufill, Andrew Deutschman and Jason Harry Pagan, Based on "Paranormal Activity" created by Oren Peli.

Starring: Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Dan Gill, Ivy George, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michael Krawie, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Hallie Foote and Mark Steger.

Thank God this is the last installment. "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" is an epic bummer of a finale. The sixth installment has more jump-scares and cliches than ever before and characters who have never seen a horror movie in their lives. I know I keep saying that in my reviews for other horror movies in the past but if you listen to my advice, I think I my might save your life. If somebody in your family does strange things and has an imaginary friend named Toby, run for your life immediately because you may not survive.

Unfortunately, the characters try to help the child and keep falling into these horror movie cliches. Don't you think it's finally time to enroll yourself in a horror movie survival class? I think so. "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" also let's us see the activity for the first time but come on people, do you think it really matters? Also, this is the first film in "Paranormal Activity" franchise to have special effects. Really people! Special effects are not the solution to make a found footage horror movie better. Oh wait, "The Ghost Dimension" was presented in 3D as well. Yep, this series has really gone downhill.

The plot revolves around, Ryan Fleege (Chris J. Murray), his wife, Emily (Brit Shaw) and their 8-year-old daughter, Lelia (Ivy George) as they move to a new house in Palo Alto, California. They are about to celebrate Christmas in a couple of weeks and Ryan's brother, Mike (Dan Gill) moves in as well after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon, strange things start happening, Lelia begins talking to an imaginary friend named Toby and Ryan and Mike find a box of old video tapes dating back to 1988-1992.

In the video footage are Kristi and Katie Featherston along with their mother and her boyfriend, Dennis. They realize that the house used to belong to them until they mysteriously disappeared. Soon, Lelia becomes less talkative with her family and this worries Ryan and Emily so they hire Father Todd (Michael Krawie) to fix their situation. Things don't turn out well as Lelia attacks the priest. Desperate to free their daughter from the activity, Ryan, Emily and Father Todd are now attempting to trap the demon in a ghost circle.

The activity has officially worn off for this franchise. "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" is a fright-less sequel, it's almost as if the filmmakers took bits and pieces from the other "Paranormal" installments and put them into this final installment. The creativity here is so bankrupt, I bet Paramount wanted to jump off the sinking ship as well, apparently they have. Usually when a big movie franchise like this comes to an end, the big studio will put the last installment in as many theaters as they can. Surprisingly, Paramount decided to only release it in 1,500 theaters and have it be available to buy or rent on a few digital outlets. That was a total shocker. In the end, "The Ghost Dimension" only grossed $18 million domestically making it the lowest-grossing film in the "Paranormal Activity" franchise. Paramount tried their new strategy again on "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" and it didn't do well either.

The movie was directed by Gregory Plotlkin who previously served as editor for the previous four installments in the franchise and his direction is clumsy and incompetent. Is this movie really the end of the "Paranormal Activity" series. I hope so but I doubt it. In ten years or so, Paramount will probably make another sequel or perhaps try to reboot the franchise but no matter what happens, the found footage genre already ran it's course a long time ago.