Review of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) by Jan-Michael G — 10 Jan 2014

They say "dying is easy, comedy is hard." Looking at the newest Paranormal Activity movie you'd be hard pressed to believe that statement as this is a funnier film then a scary one.

The newest installment follows a new batch of children, this time Hispanic (because killing off white people can get boring), one of which gets possessed by (you guessed it) a demon. That being said, the Hispanic flair is a nice change of pace from the identical environments of the previous films. It's too bad that the formula didn't change along with its setting. The first half is still dedicated to these kid's everyday boring life while slowly introducing the horror elements. (Key words here being "slow" and "boring.").

While the kids do a decent job, it's not enough to distract from the tedious first half and the unbelievable second half. I say "unbelievable" because it's still using the "found footage" style from the previous films. (You'll "sigh" when you see where this footage is found.) All you'll be thinking about during the horror segments is, "why the hell are they still using the camera!?" At one point they're even filming a gangster shoot down women (I kid you not.) Sure it's one of the more intense moments, but since it's very unlikely to happen in real life, chances are it'll distract you from the scene.

What you're getting in the end is a franchise that's trying to sell itself differently while remaining largely the same. Unless it's willing to rewrite its formula (such as dropping the "found footage" style) this series is as good as done. Not even the fans are going to stick around.

~Jan-Michael Gonzalez.

(For more reviews and fun stuff check out my YouTube channel "King's Court" coming soon.).