Disc Reviews

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones Review

2nd Jun 2014

In 1999 The Blair Witch Project brought “found footage” to mainstream Hollywood and a phenomenon was born. Over 10 years later the release of the fifth (fifth!) instalment of the Paranormal Activity franchise, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones confirms that this style of film-making has been milked dry….as has the Paranormal Activity franchise. Those responsible for producing the franchise must have realised that this was the case because in this tiresome instalment we veer away from Kristi and Katie et al and instead focus on the story of another young man destined for possession via another bout of tedious stair-creaking and door-banging.

When the suspected witch in the apartment upstairs is murdered, Jesse and his friend Hector decide to break into her flat (well, there’s never anything good on Netflix). Along with lots of black magic paraphernalia, Jesse discovers a picture of himself and begins to realise he may be in for a not-very-nice time. A realisation that’s confirmed when his possessed classmate Oscar (suspected of killing the witch/neighbour) tells him that they’re both doomed to hurt the ones they love as they have been marked for possession….

Or something like that.

It’s a little hard to tell what is going on in this film. The plot lines in Paranormal Activity have grown increasingly foggy and The Marked Ones is no exception, often leaving things completely unexplained. No one likes a film that patronises them with unnecessary exposition, but watching The Marked Ones requires the viewer to speculate fifty per cent of the time and it makes for a rather unsatisfying experience. Furthermore the characters are extraordinarily one dimensional and it makes it extremely hard to care what happens to them and rooting for a character is, arguably, essential to a horror films success.

The original film in this series had some extremely frightening moments but was essentially pretty slow with lots of lingering shots of stairs (so very many shots of the stairs). But it was original, well-executed and really rather disturbing. Unfortunately, as the franchise continues, the films have become less interesting and less scary. Sure, there are some creepy moments in The Marked Ones and the audience will jump a few times, but between those moments there’s nothing but boring, shaky footage. The flaws that could be overlooked in the first film dominate the later films and The Marked Ones is no exception. For fans of the franchise this film does, to some extent, peel another layer from the onion albeit in a rather vague manner. This instalment approaches the legend from another angle and although there is a nod to the rest of the franchise when the boys discover VHS tapes featuring Kristi and Katie in Anna’s apartment, it doesn’t do much to move the franchise significantly forward.

Unfortunately Paranormal Activity, like so many films before it, has become a victim of its own success. Hollywood just can’t help doing a good idea to death and Paranormal Activity is now way past its prime. The Marked Ones isn’t terrible, it had some very creepy moments and die-hard fans of the franchise probably won’t be disappointed. But The Marked Ones makes it very clear that its time to put this franchise to bed….which doesn’t bode well for the sixth instalment at all.