YEAR: 2014
RUNTIME: 1hr, 24 mins
MY RATING: 5/10
While most people have found themselves loathing the PA movies from the start I happened to fall into the far less populated category of fans to this franchise and have enjoyed the sequels up until the fourth installment was released. While I was let down by the fourth sequel (and will save my opinions on it for another review) I gave Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones a chance anyway.
The fact that it seemed to get away from the original Paranormal story arc it didn't stray too far since there are a few connections between the films okay, just one. While this sequel was mostly unnecessary, I did appreciate it's attempt to freshen up the series and it definitely packed more action than any of the others possibly with the exception of the third. I suppose they were trying to gear this one towards Latinos by casting the movie with predominantly Hispanic actors and basing it in what we can assume is considered the projects of the PA universe being as all of the other movies took place in rather large, pottery barn stocked homes. Our story starts with our main characters Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) and Hector (Jorge Diaz) at their high school graduation while the Valedictorian gives his speech, before we find out that his life isn't peaches and learn just how fucked up he really is. Jesse soon begins to experience strange occurrences and discover strange things about himself shortly after his BRUJA!! neighbor mysteriously passes and he wakes up with a gnarly bite mark.
In usual Paranormal Activity fashion The Marked Ones starts light with everything starting off alright and the characters having fun with technology that us audience members know will come into play in much more sinister scenarios later on. In this case we have a GoPro and a favorite childhood game of mine on the subject thanks for ruining it for me! While most might've found the gimmick silly I found it creepy but, I think it was mostly how bad Jesse was at playing Simon. Since there is always one person who provides the comic relief in order to I don't know ease the tension? In this role we find Hector. Jorge Diaz managed to keep things light hearted and goofy without coming off annoying as past characters in his shoes have and his acting kept the tiny bit of realism this movie has to offer but, we aren't getting into that just yet. Jacob Andrews gave me a mixed bag he was doing a decent job until he had to show the progression of his possession (possible band name?!) and act like a girl on her period whose boyfriend got sucked into a marathon gaming sesh rather than hanging out with her. Hey it happens. It was nice to see some familiar faces including Ali (Molly Ephriam) regardless if it was only for a total all of 15 seconds. Oh and let me give an honorable mention to our unintentional hero Arturo (Richard Cabral) for blasting bitches away in the climax.
This sequel or spin off, whatever we are calling it, features much more shaky cam than the others. I am not one to feel dizzy or sick from this style of filming however, I don't care for it. To me it feels like a cop out because the audience is to assume that something scary and chaotic is going on when it would be more impactful having a straight shot of the terror. Understandably, the scares were mostly predictable although my embarrassingly easy to scare nature did cause me to jump at them. Damn this weakness of mine! I am not going to spend to much time discussing the CGI because, let's be honest I rather not. My God though is it painfully obvious! Without spoiling a large part of the film I will say that there is a new concept added to this one that completely destroys any sense of realism the past films have managed to keep. It was sort of a let down for me since one thing I liked about the Paranormal movies was the way they continued to stay mainly realistic feeling.
If you are not a fan of the Paranormal Activity movies I wouldn't bother with his one. You will just be given more of the things you hated about the previous ones just using a tanner group of people. If you do like the others I'd say go check it out. The Marked Ones was entertaining and thrilling. It's no masterpiece nor will it become a cult hit but, if you're in the mood to be spooked and let a few chuckles out I recommend it. Until next time horror fans, You Stay Classy.
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