I hate this series. Just being
completely honest upfront: I don't think these movies are subtle, I
think they're boring. I could probably count on one hand the number
of times all five previous films combined scared me. Perhaps they're
more effective in the theater. Prior to this film I'd only seen the
third in theaters, but whatever the reason, they just don't work for
me. Cloverfield was
more effective in theaters as well, but that film was at least still
enjoyable on DVD.
That said, however, this is probably
the best film of the series. There are some decent ideas here, and
some legitimately scary moments. In fact, if it wasn't for the
fairly atrocious overuse of CGI this film could almost be a saving
grace for the entire series, finally accomplishing the kind of
subtlety the earlier films were going for.
The first twenty minutes of this film
are actually quite promising. A new family moves into the house that
was built on top of Katie and Kristi's burned childhood home. They
discover tapes from the previous film, and more significantly find a
custom video camera with an unusual design, that seems to pick up
things not visible to the naked eye. The father, naturally, starts
playing around with it almost immediately.
Sure, the idea of ghosts being visible
when filmed is old, but this film actually starts out doing the idea
fairly well. Since the camera is at least three decades out of date,
it's footage is often blurry, and it becomes legitimately hard to
tell when the camera is simply being glitchy, and when it's picking
up something that shouldn't be there. During this early part of the
movie, we see strange dots hovering, and the occasional strange
after-images. I actually think the outdated nature of the technology
works to the benefit of the film, since most young people wouldn't
even know what is or isn't normal for video tape recording (my father
had one, but the technology was obsolete long before I was old enough
to handle it).
After this opening act, however, the
film eventually goes the full-on CGI route, with the demon being
plainly visible to the camera for most of his appearances. The fact
that the father in this film seems to spend more time reviewing the
footage of Katie and Kristi being trained as witches, along with the
occasional scene from previous movies, rather than his own demonic
videotape is just baffling. I'm honestly unsure if he even knew that
a demon, made of something between fog and floating oil, seemed to be
forming next to his daughter's bed every night.
The movie eventually turns into
Poltergeist, with the demon attempting to abduct the family's
daughter through a portal in her bedroom. I suppose that old
aphorism is true, “when in doubt, copy a better movie.” I'm not
a major fan of Poltergeist,
but it at least gave this film some clear sense of direction, rather
than the pointless meandering of the previous entries in this series.
The ghost had a clearly defined goal, and the protagonists had to
endeavor to stop him.
One final thing I
will say about this film, without spoilers: the ending is probably
scarier than anything else that has ever happened in this franchise.
It takes an idea from a previous film, and uses it more effectively.
The result is legitimately unsettling. It doesn't necessarily make
up for this film, let alone the previous five, but in and of itself
it made me uncomfortable, which is something.
I
don't think this is likely to be the final Paranormal
Activity film as advertised.
This series is still consistently turning a profit, and the films
have still left plenty of questions unanswered. If there is another
film, I hope they at least follow Ghost Dimension's
example and give us a plot that moves forward meaningfully. Don't
get me wrong, this film is bad, but at least it's bad in a way that's
somewhat entertaining.
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