Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

Directed by Christopher B. Landon.

2014. Rated R, 84 minutes.

Cast:

Andrew Jacobs

Jorge Diaz

Gabrielle Walsh

Renee Victor

Noemi Gonzalez

David Saucedo

Gloria Sandoval

Katie Featherston

Micah Sloat

Molly Ephraim

For this installment in the Paranormal Activity series, we switch from a sprawling quiet suburb to a cramped inner-city apartment building. Instead of focusing on Katie (Featherston) and/or members of her family, we follow around Jesse (Jacobs) and Hector (Diaz), a couple of guys who just graduated from high school, but don't really seem to have much direction. Their days consist of a little skateboarding, smoking a little pot, trying to get into some girl's pants, videotaping everything, and avoiding the occasional horde of thugs who happen to notice that they're suddenly on camera. After hearing some strange, erotic sounding noises coming through the vent from the apartment below, guess where they drop their camera. What they see enhances, but doesn't quite confirm their belief that the lady who lives in said apartment is a witch. To cut to the chase, strange things start happening in Jesse's apartment, and to him personally.

Once again, we follow the Paranormal Activity template. Someone lugs a camera around while odd things happen and someone is possessed. Aided by the home footage look that permeates the series, the acting is pretty natural. It is a major plus to be able to say anything good about the acting in the fifth movie in a horror franchise. And it's true. Watching these two guys just be boys is easily the best part of the movie. Unfortunately, nothing else holds much water. The jump scares don't make us jump and certainly don't scare us. The plot meanders way too much for its own good. The whole thing makes less sense any other film in the series, and ends with a lame tie-in to those movies. Part of that is simply due to location. It simply doesn't work.

The change in scenery creates a big problem for this film that its predecessors didn't have. Part of what makes a haunted house flick successful is the isolation felt by the inhabitants. It's easy for neighbors to not believe you have ghosts because they may never hear or see anything. This fosters a sense of hopelessness in both the people living in the house and the viewers. The only people that might help are ones you call when times are desperate, members of the clergy or oddballs that fancy themselves to be ghost-busters. More important to the atmosphere of the movie, there really is nothing else going on. By changing to a crowded urban landscape the plot is instantly convoluted. There are too many people that could, and should, know something. There are also too many people who don't give a crap what's going on. There are just naturally too many agendas to present for this type of story. This leads us in the audience to more willingly question the events in the movie. Our ability to suspend disbelief is more seriously tested. When things are focused on the happenings inside a single family house where the neighbors aren't too close, it's easier for us to be absorbed by the movie and experience it. With The Marked Ones, we just watch it. Magic already fading due to the redundant nature of being a franchise with an installment every year, is now completely gone.

Paranormal Activity 4

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.

2012. Rated R, 88 minutes.

Cast:

Katie Featherston

Kathryn Newton

Matt Shively

Alexondra Lee

Brady Allen

Aiden Lovekamp

Stephen Dunham

Sprague Grayden

Remember little Hunter from part 2? In case you’ve forgotten he was the baby, Katie’s nephew, whom she abducted while evidently possessed by the demon that just doesn't like their family. Sorry about spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it. After the prequel that was part 3, we’re back to continuing the saga. As the movie’s tagline tells us, “all the activity has been leading to this.” After the opening scene of Paranormal Activity 4 shows you exactly what I've just told you, we skip a few years and to a new neighborhood. We also center on a new family. This time around, our conduit is the family’s teenage daughter Alex (Newton). She’s the only person living in the house who has a clue. Much of the movie is viewed through the webcam on her laptop. We see the rest through various cameras on the family’s multiple devices including their Xbox 360. The rest of the clan is made up of little brother Wyatt (Lovekamp), too young to really suspect anything and their equally oblivious mom Holly (Lee) and dad Doug (Dunham). The only other person aware of the strange happenings is Alex’s platonic, but always present and hopeful pal Ben (Shively). Thanks to him, we actually have a movie to watch. He’s the one that rigs all the cameras to constantly record.

Things progress as they must in the Paranormal Activity universe, slowly. In fact, things don’t start happening for quite awhile. They pick up once Wyatt gets a new playmate. That would be Robbie (Allen), the odd little boy who just moved in across the street with his mom and wanders the neighborhood late at night. He’s fond of Alex’s old tree house. Evidently, his mom becomes ill and, with nowhere else to go, guess who takes him in for a few days. Yup. That’s when the activity begins.

If you’re one of those people who show up at the franchise’s midnight premiers, chances are you’ll love this installment. If you’re one of those that thinks the whole series has been rubbish to this point, nothing here will change your mind. For the rest of us it’s a hard movie to judge. It’s better than part 2, which it is a direct sequel to, and part 3, the prequel. It advances the story and infusion of a new family gives the proceedings a much need shot in the arm. The ghostly tricks feel fresher even though a number of them are the same. There are a few ones including the garage scene which is just brilliant. The use of laptops also gives us a slightly different perspective on things.

On the other hand, there is a massive plot hole that walks around all movie and seriously needs explaining. If you can get past that, or just don’t recognize it, you’ll probably enjoy PA4 very much. If you can’t you’ll be busy wondering how and why we even got to the point where the movie starts. It would have to be something beyond contrived. Even with it’s issues, I’d still say this is the best of the series other than the original.

MY SCORE: 6/10

Click Here for My Reviews of All 4 Paranormal Activity Movies!

Paranormal Activity 3

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.

2011. Rated R, 84 minutes.
Cast:

Chris Smith

Lauren Bittner

Chloe Csengery

Jessica Tyler Brown

Hallie Foote

Dustin Ingram

Johanna Braddy

Brian Boland

Katie Featherston

Sprague Grayden

As we’ve been warned, the events of Paranormal Activity and its sequel are only part of a lifetime dealing with things that go bump in the night. So it’s no surprise that the third installment in this haunted house franchise is a prequel. We journey back to 1988, in the midst of the troubled childhoods of Katie (Csengery) and Kristi (Brown). The two sisters share a room upstairs in a pretty open house; their room doesn’t have a full wall and looks out over the lower level of the house. As little girls are wont to do, Kristi has an imaginary friend named Toby. Well, at least everyone else in the house thinks he’s imaginary. After about 10 minutes of movie time, Katie and mom Julie (Bittner) still think so, but stepdad Dennis (Smith) isn’t so sure. See, like apparently every man that has ever come into contact with the girls, he’s set up cameras all over the house. Now, when the things in the night go bumping, he can watch it on video the next day.

Like with the first two movies in the series, the aim is to draw you in, piling up little scares along the way until you’re wholly unsettled then bombard you with a furious and creepy finish. The technique is actually solid and the climax is indeed fun in a twisted way. I suspect it may be enough for people to consider it a really good horror flick. After all, the franchise is known for and built upon its finales. They are what keeps us coming back for the next Paranormal Activity.

Unfortunately, each installment works best if you haven’t seen either of the others. Without automatically recalling the two films just like it, the one you’re watching can be more effective on you. This is because if you’re familiar with the franchise then the setup and execution are both overly familiar to you. During the day, people argue about whether or not they have ghosts as house guests. After everyone goes to bed, there are all sorts of strange noises, inanimate objects moving by themselves and odd behavior by one of the characters who, of course, is unaware of what they’re doing. It is an effective formula seen once, less so on the second go-round and a little less than that this time around. It’s simply a victim of the law of diminishing returns. This is why horror franchise often give up trying to scare us and become parodies of themselves. Being repeatedly manipulated in the same exact manner cannot continue to be scary. To its credit, Paranormal Activity 3 refuses to go down that road. However admirable sticking to its haunted guns might be, it fails to up the fright factor.

MY SCORE: 5/10

Paranormal Activity 2

Directed by Tod Williams.
2010. Rated R, 91 minutes.
Cast:
Sprague Grayden
Brian Boland
Molly Ephraim
Katie Featherston
Vivis Cortez
William Juan Prieto
Jackson Xenia Prieto
Seth Ginsberg
Micah Sloat

Right away, we figure something out in Paranormal Activity 2 that alters our vision of the original. Apparently, while Katie (Featherston) and Micah (Sloat) were dealing with an evil spirit in their home, Katie’s sister Kristi (Grayden) and her family is doing the same. Actually, their ordeal starts first. This sudden revelation makes the first movie feel like something is missing since none of this is ever mentioned. Nevertheless, it all begins shortly after little Hunter (the Prieto twins) is born. Pretty soon, inanimate objects are moving about by themselves and things often go bump in the night. Ever the pragmatic, Kristi’s husband Daniel (Boland) always has an explanation for everything while his wife and daughter Ali (Ephraim) think otherwise.

We’re privy to these happenings through two avenues. First, members of the Rey family are fond of carrying around a camcorder, much like Micah in that first movie. Second, they’ve installed security cameras all over the house after what they think is a break-in. Early on, come home to discover their house has been ransacked. Immediately, they assume it was done by burglars. We know better.

As expected, the severity of the strange occurrences elevates as time passes. The Reys are also often visited by Katie and Micah, periodically. Occasionally, Ali’s boyfriend Brad (Ginsberg) is on hand. The family dog seems to be aware that something is not quite right. Even Hunter appears to have the same feeling.

If you’ve seen the original, you’ll notice there’s a few more people around, plus the dog. Basically, this is the only thing that differentiates the sequel from its predecessor. Many of the scare tactics are recycled. The pacing feels identical and the interaction between the skeptic (Daniel) and the believers (Kristi and Ali) feels the same. While the first felt fresh, particularly in the stagnant haunted house genre, this one feels like a remake.

With that said, it’s not a terrible watch. Adding more people to the mix does give us several points of view, which we didn’t have the first time. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that one of them is a baby. Kids in danger tend to get us emotionally involved easier. We just can’t stand it when our angry Casper includes junior in all the fun.

The other thing that keeps us watching is the potential for another crazy ending. We simply have to see how this thing turns out. This one tries but doesn’t have quite the wow factor of the original. It’s interesting, but only in a way that makes you say “Hmmm…that’s interesting.” It doesn’t make you say “OMG!” In summation, that’s the problem with the whole movie. While it’s an okay movie with a couple frights, it often just feels like more of the same.


MY SCORE: 5.5/10

Paranormal Activity

Directed by Oren Peli.

2009. Rated R, 86 minutes.
Cast:
Katie Featherston
Micah Sloat
Mark Fredrichs
Amber Armstrong

Plot: Katie (Featherston) believes something has been haunting her for her entire life and is in the house where she now lives with her boyfriend Micah (Sloat). Micah decides to film all the goings on in the house, hoping to get to the bottom of it. Things going bump in the night ensue.

The Good: Through the limitations of one of our characters having to hold the camera and the lack of extravagant special fx, it successfully feigns reality. Its easy to believe this is an actual couple and you are watching video documentation of their life. This makes it very easy to relate what's happening on the screen to the noises that break the night silence in your own home. Therefore, its as plausible as a haunted house movie can be and there is where its power lies.

The Bad: Its worst offense is because of that same camera that's such an asset. Even when the situation seems to dictate getting to or away from whatever is going on quickly, someone, usually Micah, usually stops to grab the camera, first. A major horror cliche pops up from time to time. It's that old favorite "You hear that? I'm gonna go check it out." And yes, Micah get annoying.

The Ugly: After one particularly adventurous night about halfway through, if I were Kate's boyfriend, without question I would've given her "the speech." What speech, you ask? "You know what babe? I don't think this thing is gonna work out between us. It's you...er...it's me, not you. Peace out." Love, be damned!

Recommendation: This is a very nice haunted house flick, best one I've seen in quite some time. It easily surpasses The Haunting in Connecticut, 2009's other major entry into the genre. Yes, it totally steals the concept from The Blair Witch Project, or probably more accurately from Cloverfield which stole it from TBWP but I like it better than both of those. As with all haunted house movies, I recommend watching this at home, late at night, with all the lights off, then going to bed immediately afterwards.

The Opposite View: Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

What the Internet Says: 7.0/10 on imdb.com (12/14/09), 82% on rottentomatoes.com, 68/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 8/10