One of the better movie series I’ve seen in a long time is “Paranormal Activity.” Yes, it has its detractors, sure. You either love the movies, or you act snooty and mock people for liking the movies. I don’t give a shit, either way. I think “Paranormal Activity” was great, and this was before it became a viral sensation with the ad campaign (featuring people that knew they were being filmed) of people screaming and shrieking at the movie’s events.
I fondly remember asking for a chance to review the screener from Oren Peli, and being stunned at what I’d finished watching when it ended. I loved “Paranormal Activity” then and never knew it’d become such a huge hit.
Years later, we’re on to “Paranormal Activity 4” moving on to part five, and we even have our own Latin spin off! And ever since part three I’ve been asking the same question: Where the hell is this all going?
Oren Peli seemed to strive for subtlety and quiet terror, but Dreamworks seems to be aiming for something larger and larger. There’s stuff like time travel, and conceiving demons, and cults of little boys, and an army of haggard witches, and decades long plans to birth women with the off spring of some demonic entity.
And I’m still here scratching my head thinking “So, what’s the plan here?” All I know about the series so far is that Katie Featherston is one of the hottest horror villains ever conceived and at this point, her character Katie seems so far gone, she’s likely incapable of saving. Will we have a gigantic show down? Will the demons and witches take over Earth a la “Prince of Darkness”? Or will a hero finally emerge to take down the entire lot of them? There’s mention of a demonologist in the first film, and there’s still Katie’s niece roaming around somewhere, so what’s up, guys? What’s the end game for it all?
It was a good idea to market a spin off series to the Latin culture. We as a people tend to be superstitious, very religious, and believers of Santeria, Black Magic, and the like. “The Marked Ones” had that golden opportunity to lend substance to the series, while also embracing the horrors of the evil that the Latin community is so fearful of, and it just completely coasted over the big chance just to deliver what was just another stock “found footage” horror movie. And that ending? It came off slightly racist.
It can’t be just me that thinks that. In either case, “Paranormal Activity” is moving in to part five soon, and I’d love to see them steer the entire narrative and mythos in to a place where the audience can catch on and garner some sense of expectations. Part four suffered from a massive plot hole that was never explained, while “The Marked Ones” was such a shoddy cash grab, it was embarrassing to sit through.
We’re told by the middle of the film that main character Jessie was being groomed for years to become the vessel for the demonic entity that would turn him evil. So what the hell was even the point of the entire scene in the abandoned church with the black mirror? The demon was there all the time, so why allude that Jessie summoned it. That’s just one in a slew of problems in the utterly terrible “The Marked Ones.”
I still enjoy the first three parts of “Paranormal Activity” and thought it could have ended on the ambiguous note in the finale of part three with Katie’s step dad being murdered, and the daughters being used to carry out their destinies. But studios these days want franchise and trilogies, so it’s pretty sad that if “Paranormal Activity” does eventually come fully circle and end its entire narrative, it may not be a definite “The End,” since Hollywood never closes shop on its movie series’ entirely.
Truthfully, I’d settle for a “The End…?” if only the writers and producers seemed like they knew what they were doing and where they were taking this whole circus. Much like the former dominant horror series “Saw,” eventually the novelty will wear thin. “Paranormal Activity” lost me as a supporter a long time ago, for now I’m cautiously optimistic and would love to be scared again going in to these movies. Time to pick up the pace and take us somewhere terrifying, guys, or I’ll just seek my scares elsewhere.