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Well, I'll admit right off the bat that this film is not the worst in the series. Whether
that came as a shock to anyone or not, I don't know or care. The point is that this film
is as good as any of the others in this series. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a reason
that this film got a January release. The studios had no faith in this because it's
***, but is it as rancid as the other four movies in this series?
This film retains a better pace than all the others. We don't exactly see demons for a
while, but at least the spaces in between are plot-driven and can hold my attention
somewhat, demon-possessed Simon-Says aside. Jesse and co. have more personality than Katie
and her family, but by the same token, their personality is made all the more obnoxious
by the fact that the camera spends the majority of its time shoved right into their faces.
If this is a spin-off, why not just film it conventionally. It's not like the found-footage
gimmick ever enhanced this franchise. It's still dull and ugly and completely uninteresting
to look at. At least this film is more interesting though.
The story contains more depth to it. It doesn't feel like it was written on a napkin and ad-libbed
by the characters and I will admit, the way this movie tied in to the others put a smile
on my face, if for no other reason than it made sitting through all these movies a tiny
bit worth it. That's something at the very least. There's still all of the problems such
as people filming things that one would never realistically film, scenes where the actors
break character because they have to improvise a little too long and the whole demon thing
is still a bit sketchy, but at least the scares, when they actually decide to show up are a
little more thought out and the last twenty minutes actually manage to be the most intense
in this entire franchise. The ending to this movie can best be described as if they took
the ending to Paranormal Activity 4 and Tokyo Night and ironed out the kinks in order to
make something a little more energetic and, unlike anything else in this franchise, actually
pretty fun. That said, my thoughts on this movie remain
the same thoughts I've had over every other one of these f**king movies. It may have slightly
improved on the last few, but it's still unbelievably boring with its cheap gimmicks, paper-thin
plot and characters, ugly cinematography and overall a major lack of suspense and scares.
So I would like to ask the fans of this series, Why? What about this gimmicky, muddled mess
is so appealing? I've heard people throw around the reason that 'it does something that hasn't
been done before', which is an obvious lie because Blair Witch Project exists. I mean,
if found footage is your thing, whatever, I can't stop you from liking it, but once
the novelty of it wears dry, and trust me, in 90 minutes it has all the time in the world
to do so, what is left? What is actually left for the viewer to enjoy? Another 20 minutes
of set-up to a lame pay-off? You want to know what the worst part is? I'm
not even finished with this series. Paramount really want your money because in January,
we had Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, but in October, they're finishing off the
franchise with Paranormal Activity 5. ***.