Review of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) by Dannyboy S — 02 Feb 2014

Quite an experience, especially with this being fifth in the now-ancient series. It happens to be less sophisticated and yet more effective than the previous films - there are no silly title cards marking the days and there are no webcams or surveillance cameras. The whole movie isn't particularly flashy - the events are captured solely on a handheld camera. Not that things are ever at a disadvantage by keeping the footage off of one recording device. What's important is, is the movie scary? I was actually going to skip this movie for two reasons: I wasn't interested in jump-scares, those that become annoying quickly, and I expected more of the same in general, even if there's a new location, different ethnic characters. But I became in the mood at the last minute, and besides, I'd heard it was the best in the series. While it isn't a huge improvement over the others, there's plenty to like and I think the scariness level is high. Maybe a little boring for the first 50 minutes, where the story is being built up and the characters are being defined. Then the real shit begins and things get serious. Here, where Jesse becomes fully possessed, you need to keep your eyes open because the filmmakers are gonna make you squirm with unease, leading you begging for some massive payoff at the end. And trust me, you'll get it.

But at the 50 minute mark, watch out, because there's a scare so haunting and well done, it'll clean your system with adrenalin, as if you were close to death yourself. It rocked me badly for a few minutes afterwards. Most of the other good scares happen towards the end, when Hector and Marisol go looking for Jesse. I think what really worked with their friendship was all the humour. There are jump-scares, but mostly just the threat of jump-scares which I wasn't in a bad mood about. There's creepiness, disturbing imagery, an undercurrent of tension. Some unanswered questions, but the story wasn't that complicated anyway. The series, up to this point, has maintained good quality on such small budgets, and this new movie was even better, mainly because it's like a unique side mission into the world of paranormal activity. It's also a very short movie, which is great. I don't really like spirituality, but this movie's exploration of demons and religion stays lite and fun. What's also fun was the nervous laughter from the audience. The characters are a little clumsy, but you still worry about them, to the point where their silly mistakes don't indicate the filmmakers have lost the plot.