Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Directed by: Christopher Landon
Written by: Christopher Landon
Starring: Andrew Jacobs, Jorge Diaz, Gabrielle Walsh, Gloria Sandoval, Carlos Pratts, Richard Cabral, Catherine Toribio, Molly Ephraim
Horror/Thriller - 84 min
Written by: Christopher Landon
Starring: Andrew Jacobs, Jorge Diaz, Gabrielle Walsh, Gloria Sandoval, Carlos Pratts, Richard Cabral, Catherine Toribio, Molly Ephraim
Horror/Thriller - 84 min
The Paranormal Activity franchise proved the law of diminishing returns two movies ago. The original film in 2009 was so cheap to make and made such a profitable return that Paramount cannot stop making more of them even though they just get worse and worse. There is no story left, they are just trying to tap a fresh script out of a dry well. With any luck, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones will put this franchise out to pasture.
Marketed as a spin-off from the previous four films, The Marked Ones is nothing of the kind; it might as well be Paranormal Activity 5. There are all new characters but they fit right into the standard mold we’ve come to expect. This time around, every aspect of the movie is that much worse than the already awful Paranormal Activity 4.
The ‘found footage’ gimmick is still alive but definitely not well. Instead of cutting between a series of stationary cameras tracking evil spirits, we get one handheld camera that is unsteadily moved and bumped for just about every second of this movie. Also, instead of sitting back and observing the frightening bumps in the night, our heroes go searching for trouble and pretty much open their front door inviting demons from beyond into their apartment.
Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) just graduated from high school and is up to nothing much. He goofs around with his best friend, Hector (Jorge Diaz), all day and they become a bit too interested in the weird lady, Anna (Gloria Sandoval), who lives downstairs. Strange moans and screams come from her apartment at night, which should be warning enough for them to keep their distance. Not Jesse and Hector though; when Anna turns up dead, they frequently break into her apartment to explore, bring women, and do everything they can to stir up what we all know from the previous films they should probably leave alone.
The never-ending jump cuts are ridiculous. The original Paranormal Activity was effective and terrifying because the takes were so long. We stared at the same screen for what seemed like minutes on end looking for anything out of place or a household item that should not be moving. Now we get takes lasting about two seconds a piece before cutting a few seconds into the future. Writer/director Christopher Landon probably thought this would make for a tighter film but it is more nauseating than anything else. Recognize that last name by the way? Yes, Christopher is Michael Landon’s son.
Despite his family pedigree, Christopher Landon brings zero new ideas to this more than tired series. He sets up blatant shots where you know a character is going to jump out and say, “Boo!” Instead of a Ouija board to communicate with the other world, he brings in a Simon machine that you remember from the ‘80s. When our moron cameraman runs for his life and tries to hide from whatever it is trying to kill him, he naturally leaves the camera light on for everybody to track him.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think Paramount is just making fun of their horror audience now. The studio executives know the series faithful will turn out once again to see what happens but now they are just taking your money and hardly try to bring you a fresh plot. Do the Paranormal Activity franchise a favor; do not go see The Marked Ones. Let’s bury this together.
Marketed as a spin-off from the previous four films, The Marked Ones is nothing of the kind; it might as well be Paranormal Activity 5. There are all new characters but they fit right into the standard mold we’ve come to expect. This time around, every aspect of the movie is that much worse than the already awful Paranormal Activity 4.
The ‘found footage’ gimmick is still alive but definitely not well. Instead of cutting between a series of stationary cameras tracking evil spirits, we get one handheld camera that is unsteadily moved and bumped for just about every second of this movie. Also, instead of sitting back and observing the frightening bumps in the night, our heroes go searching for trouble and pretty much open their front door inviting demons from beyond into their apartment.
Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) just graduated from high school and is up to nothing much. He goofs around with his best friend, Hector (Jorge Diaz), all day and they become a bit too interested in the weird lady, Anna (Gloria Sandoval), who lives downstairs. Strange moans and screams come from her apartment at night, which should be warning enough for them to keep their distance. Not Jesse and Hector though; when Anna turns up dead, they frequently break into her apartment to explore, bring women, and do everything they can to stir up what we all know from the previous films they should probably leave alone.
The never-ending jump cuts are ridiculous. The original Paranormal Activity was effective and terrifying because the takes were so long. We stared at the same screen for what seemed like minutes on end looking for anything out of place or a household item that should not be moving. Now we get takes lasting about two seconds a piece before cutting a few seconds into the future. Writer/director Christopher Landon probably thought this would make for a tighter film but it is more nauseating than anything else. Recognize that last name by the way? Yes, Christopher is Michael Landon’s son.
Despite his family pedigree, Christopher Landon brings zero new ideas to this more than tired series. He sets up blatant shots where you know a character is going to jump out and say, “Boo!” Instead of a Ouija board to communicate with the other world, he brings in a Simon machine that you remember from the ‘80s. When our moron cameraman runs for his life and tries to hide from whatever it is trying to kill him, he naturally leaves the camera light on for everybody to track him.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think Paramount is just making fun of their horror audience now. The studio executives know the series faithful will turn out once again to see what happens but now they are just taking your money and hardly try to bring you a fresh plot. Do the Paranormal Activity franchise a favor; do not go see The Marked Ones. Let’s bury this together.
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