Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones Review
Anyone who knows me will know how much of a Paranormal fan I am. Like it or lump it, you can’t deny the success of the Paranormal Activity movies. Made on a maximum $5 million budget, each film provides enough jump scares and terrors to cash its way into the box office. However 2013 saw a change in the usual October scare-fest, because low and behold there was no Paranormal movie to be had. Was this the first sign of weakness for the franchise? Had it ran out of ideas? Fortunately, Paramount being the ever so sly studio that they are, let us know that 2 movies would be making their way to the big screen in 2014, and this is the first – the Hispanic ‘spinoff’ (that isn’t really a spinoff) Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.
Largely aimed
at the Latino market (which interestingly has the highest demographic of
audience members for the franchise) this ‘spin-off’ focuses on the character of
Jesse, a recent High School graduate who becomes marked by a demonic force after
his mysterious neighbour is killed and
embarks on a supernatural transformation into the unknown. The Latino setting
added a new twist to the tale, new environments and new characters really help
breathe life back into the franchise but doesn't alienate viewers with its Spanish dialogue – it’s only used every other
scene and you get the gist of what’s happening anyway. Like all found-footage
movies, the film heavily relies on a hand held camera shooting technique –
which grips the viewer’s interests and keeps the much-needed suspense, but can
be quite frustrating at times. I understand the believability of these films is
something that Paramount drills into the viewer but there are moments when you
do highly doubt you would continue filming after say, being attacked in a car
or being chased after by witches. But most of the time, it works well and shows
the relationship dynamics between Jesse and his loved ones.
This leads me
on to the cast and location. Andrew Jacobs and Jorge Diaz portray the most
convincing leads of the franchise to date; their on-screen time is genuine and
fresh, whilst still maintaining that believability of reacting against these
supernatural occurrences as any other teenage boy would. Furthermore, what separates
Jesse from any other lead in the Paranormal
franchise is the relationship he has with his family. Unlike the
disapproving, naive and even at times downright stupid parents of previous
entries, Landon finally gets it right with The
Marked Ones and gives us a family of which we can relate to. We have
sisters, brothers, a crazy yet lovable grandmother, a cute pet dog and a father
who still mourns Jesse’s mother – as a family unit, it works well and helps us
form an emotional attachment to these characters, so much that when something
happens to them (which, let’s face it, is a certainty in a Paranormal film) we actually care.
Let me be
clear, if you are a Paranormal Activity fan
and you were thinking about maybe skipping this one, I’d strongly advise you to
reconsider. This film is 110% canon with the franchise and acts as an important
bridge between now and October for Paranormal
Activity 5. After the huge disappointment of 4, many fans (me included) were worried that the franchise was
digging an early grave for itself. The story was muddled and complicated, more
questions were raised than they were answered and it just wasn't a good film. Fortunately,
The Marked Ones is a step in the
right direction and brings the story back on track. I won’t spoil anything for
those intending on seeing it, but I will say that the story ties in with events
set in previous films, past characters
and motifs play an important part and the mythology is blown wide open for
future instalments. As for the ending, it blew my mind. Some will love it, some
will hate it as it really adds a new dimension to the franchise in the most
craziest way possible, but with due ‘time’ I'm sure it’ll be seen as a positive
aspect to the franchise. (Those who have already seen the film, I hope you
liked my cheeky little pun.)
However, for
a film classed as a horror and part of a horror franchise – it actually wasn't that scary. Sure there were a few classic jump scares to be had, including a
very chilling sequence set in the basement, but all of the potential scary
moments were ruined for me as I had seen them all in the trailer! This made me
think back to the marketing campaign of Paranormal
Activity 3; various trailers and TV-Spots contained footage that wasn't actually in the final cut of the movie and caused uproar amongst fans of the
franchise, some of whom felt it was a cop-out and branded it as false
advertising. I, contrastingly, thought this was a brilliant move by Paramount
as it surprised me going into the screening, what I thought I was expecting and
what I got were two different things. In that sense, it was a thrilling experience
watching it as you never knew what was coming. In The Marked Ones this experience was lost on me, as all the good
bits were spoiled by the trailer. So maybe this is a hint for Paramount to reel
back the marketing campaign for 5?
Landon has said
in multiple interviews that the ending of the franchise has been planned for
years and they are slowly building up to it. The Marked Ones brings the franchise back to top form and acts as
the penultimate puzzle piece to the whole Paranormal
universe, something I hope is concluded well with the fifth film due out in
nine months’ time. It’s one of the less scary entries, but it’s a huge
improvement over 4 and for the
expansion of the mythology alone it deserves a watch even if you’re not the
biggest fan of the films. Or maybe for the bat-shit crazy ending. You decide.
8/10.
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