Micah and Katie are victims of a supernatural presence that neither they, nor the audience, can really understand, and as the tragic events unfold throughout the movie, the viewer is there, sharing the moment, every step of the way. Rather than making the setting frightening, Peli brings the threat into the home in a relatable - and truly terrifying - fashion. Oren Peli’s original film that started it all back in 2007, the first Paranormal Activity took what made The Blair Witch Projectso frightening, but amplified the horror in a truly visceral way. Still, it's a worthy successor in many ways and an enjoyable entry in the franchise. ![]() It follows so many of the same beats as the original that the supernatural events - while still creepy - just don't have the impact as they do in the original. While these chronological tricks are entertaining, the film falls a little short in the scares department. It also retroactively fills in the narrative gaps for the first film, enriching the franchise's lore up to that point. The reveal at the end of Paranormal Activity 2 is undeniably a clever twist that hints at the bigger picture of this story, setting in motion the whole storyline with Hunter. Paranormal Activity 2 faced the difficult challenge of following what was a landmark, groundbreaking film with a mostly complete story. The Paranormal Activity sequel would both have to somehow continue the events of the first film and recapture the magic that made the original so remarkable - all while telling its own, fresh, story. Opting to continue the main story rather than taking a more anthological approach, the most clever and successful thing about Paranormal Activity 2 is how it initially appears to just be another random haunting, only for the movie to eventually reveal that not only is Kristi the sister of Katie from the first film, but that this movie largely takes place slightly before the events of the first film. The movie expands on the witches and "marking" aspects of the previous films and it surprisingly fills in some blank's regarding the original film's ending (in one of the franchise's most unexpected twists). There's a lot of passion and creativity present in Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, and while it helped revive some interest in the series for a time, it still suffers from how four films before it have already tapped this topic. This new focus is deeply refreshing and it's impressive to see how much of the film is actually presented in Spanish with subtitles without any aspirations to try to be more "mainstream." The Marked Ones' biggest strength is that it has lovable characters who actually do smart things, but just get caught up in an impossible situation. Initially billed as the first (official) Paranormal Activity spin-off, The Marked Ones tells a familiar story of paranormal events and possessed individuals but shifts the horror to a Latino community. As budgets increased, the effects became more spectacular, and by the sixth movie in the franchise, 2015's Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, concepts like cults, other dimensions, and time travel were introduced into the overall mythology of the iconic Paranormal Activity demon entity, "Toby."Īfter the events of Paranormal Activity 4, the audience's interest in the series was dwindling and there was a need to shake up the formula. Later films maintained this approach while extending on the main movie's lore. ![]() ![]() Not only did the format make the movie incredibly cheap to produce, but it significantly impacted the movie's overall tone, creating a feeling of intimacy that made the supernatural events - conveyed through very tasteful and believable special effects and acting - all the more convincing and menacing. The original found-footage premise of Paranormal Activitywas genius in its simplicity: taking the approach of amateur-looking - rather than glossy professional - film, the basic story was told through home movies and security footage. With the Octorelease of Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, the movie series is back in the spotlight, once again frightening audiences with its signature mix of supernatural events told through a low-key aesthetic. When Paranormal Activityhit theaters in 2009 (after its festival screenings in 2007), it forever changed the found-footage subgenre and helped spawn a new fundamental franchise in horror.
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