Directed by: Christopher Landon.
Written by: Christopher Landon.
Starring: Andrew Jacobs (Jesse), Jorge Diaz (Hector), Catherine Toribio (Penelope), Meredith Eaton (Convina), Richard Cabral (Arturo), Gabrielle Walsh (Marisol), Noemi Gonzalez (Evette), Katie Featherston (Katie), Molly Ephraim (Ali), Micah Sloat (Micah), Eddie J. Fernandez (Carlos), Renee Victor (Jesse's Grandmother), Karolin Luna (Laura Esposito), Chloe Csengery (Katie), Jessica Tyler Brown (Kristi), Carlos Pratts (Oscar Hernandez), Gloria Sandoval (Anna).
I have
never seen any of the Paranormal Activity movies after the first one. I saw
that one early – before it had become a low budget hit – and it surprised,
scared and shocked me more than most horror movies have. It seemed like at long
last another filmmaker had followed in the footsteps of The Blair Witch Project
and made another do-it-yourself hit. When Blair Witch came out, I thought we’d
see more like it – but for a long time, it seemed like a one off. I didn’t see
Paranormal Activity 2 mainly because I didn’t want my pure, scary experience of
the first film ruined – in the way that inferior sequels sometimes can diminish
their better originals. When Oren Peli made the first film, he was doing it
with no money and no interference (although, apparently, they did reshoot the
ending) – but once it made money and studios got involved – and Peli left for
other projects – I didn’t really want to see them. The reviews of the sequels
were mixed, and once I fell behind, I never quite got the urge to catch up. I
cannot say why I decided to rent Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones this past
weekend – probably boredom, as I walked around the lone video store in my town
looking for something to watch that night. Also, I knew that the film wasn’t
really a sequel – a Paranormal Activity 5 will come out in its normal October
time slot, as this series has taken over from the Saw franchise (which I also
gave up on – I don’t think I ever saw the final installment) as Hollywood’s
go-to October horror franchise – but rather a spin off. Presumably, it came
into being via focus group – as some studio executive realized that America had
a lot of Latinos, and they liked horror movies, so giving that audience a
Paranormal Activity of their own seemed like a good – albeit cheap – bet. It’s
easy to be cynical about such a move – especially since the resulting movie
indulges in pretty much every cliché of Latinos one can think of – short of
anyone coming out in a sombrero that is. I cannot help but think it probably
would have been a smart idea to hand the writing and directing duties to a
Latino filmmaker instead of someone who had simply written the last few
installments. The truth is however, and this is sad, is that Paranormal
Activity: The Marked Ones will be one of the few studio movies this year with
Latino leads – so I guess it’s a win somewhat. Too bad the movie isn’t very
good.
Instead
of white suburban household, this Paranormal Activity takes place in a rundown
apartment complex in Oxnard – populated mainly by Latinos. Best friends Jesse
(Andrew Jacobs) and Hector (Jorge Diaz) have just graduated from high school,
and are in that hazy time after high school when they’re not exactly sure what
to do with themselves. Then a strange incident happens – as an older woman
named Anna, who there have long since been rumors of her dabbling in
witchcraft, gets murdered – presumably by the straight laced valedictorian of
Jesse and Jorge’s high school. The pair cannot help but investigate the
apartment after the police have gone – and then strange things start happening
to Jesse – who slowly, but surely, starts to change – and develop weird powers.
At first, Jesse thinks this is cool, but then he cannot control himself – he
starts getting angry and violent – and Jorge, and Jesse’s friends and family
try to bring him back from the brink of whatever is happening to him. Oh, and
they communicate with the “other side” via an old Simon toy – which is creepier
than it sounds.
The
found footage genre is pretty much played out at this point. For every clever
use of the technique – like Cloverfield, Chronicle or End of Watch – there’s a
lot more low rent horror movies (or horrible comedies like Project X) which are
basically dull, boring and incomprehensible because of the constantly shaking
camera. There is very little new being done with the genre, as filmmakers seem
content to simply repeat what has worked in the past. And audiences don’t seem
to mind.
Paranormal
Activity: The Marked One is one of the films that doesn’t do anything new. All
the scares you’ve seen before – and even if the movie gets a couple of cheap,
momentarily scares out of big “BOO!” moments, there is never the mounting sense
of terror that made the original Paranormal Activity so genuinely terrifying.
The best part of the movie may well be the opening act – with only a few hints
of the supernatural. Jacobs and Diaz have an easy, natural chemistry between
them and those opening scenes really did make me care about their characters. I
cared less and less as the movie wore on, and it became more and more by the
numbers – but there was something there in those opening scenes.
In
short, the movie doesn’t do anything all that new, and I do wish it had upended
some of the Latino clichés instead of fully embracing them. It’s not a horrible
movie – it’s watchable all the way through – yet there is a definite been
there, done that feel to the entire movie. I suppose if you’re not sick of this
franchise yet, you may even enjoy the film. But this is only the second of
these I’ve seen – and I’m already tired of them.
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