Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is being advertised as the final film in the lucrative Paranormal Activity franchise that started back in 2008. If that is indeed the case, it is extremely disappointing, as the film feels like a cobbled together cash grab, written by someone who read the Wikipedia plots of the first 5 films and wrote a script for the finale based on that alone. It is all the more disappointing that the franchise will seemingly have no chance to course-correct itself, since this final effort taints the franchise the same way Saw 3D did five years ago.
***Minor SPOILERS for the film’s plot below.***
Set nearly two years after the events on Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, Ghost Dimension picks up with yet another new family who have the misfortune of moving into the same house Katie and Kristi grew up in during Paranormal Activity 3. The film begins with Ryan (Chris J. Murray) and Emily (Brit Shaw) moving into the house with their daughter Leila (Ivy George) when Ryan’s brother Mike (Dan Gill) shows up to stay with them after his girlfriend broke up with him. One day Ryan and Mike find a video camera in an old box that, for some unknown reason, has the ability to see Toby. Together, with their semi-psychic friend Skyler (Olivia Taylor Dudley, having a bad year with this and The Vatican Tapes), they must fight the evil that has invaded their home (though technically Toby already lived there, so they invaded his home).
The focus on a new family is one of the biggest missteps of the film. If you are going to make a film to end a franchise, don’t bring in a cast of completely new characters. It isn’t a spoiler to say that the adult Katie make no appearance in this film. As a matter of fact, with the exception of a few video clips showing a young Katie and Kristi with their Grandma Lois, no characters from any of the previous films make an appearance in the film. To build a finale to a long-running franchise on a cast of complete newcomers is a bet that doesn’t pay off with Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.
The actors fare slightly better than some of the ones in previous entries. Their acting is passable and characters are some of the more memorable of the franchise, though Gill’s character is somewhat obnoxious. They are extremely stupid characters though. While watching some of Katie and Kristi’s videos early in the film, Ryan asks “Wow, did they just film everything they did?” At first, this comes across as a clever way to poke fun at the franchise, whose characters are famous for continuing to film during life-threatening moments. The characters in this film show no such intelligence either, filming everything, even when every instinct should tell them to put the damn cameras down.
The one clever aspect of the films plot is that the camera can see the actual paranormal activity, so this should aid in the suspension of disbelief when the characters are using the camera to try to see Toby. When all you need to do is get out of the house though, that plot point becomes moot. They take far too long to get out of the house and even when they do, they come back for no discernible reason. By the end of the film you’re just waiting for them all to die.
The tagline of the film touts that “For the first time, you will see the activity.” This is true, but Toby’s design is a complete ripoff of the nightmare scene from Little Nemo, a 1989 animated children’s movie that is far scarier than anything in this film. In fact, all of the CGI in the film is rather shoddy. This is especially true in the climax of the film, which features some of the most cartoonish-looking CGI seen on film in quite some time.
Those looking for jump scares will find plenty to love about Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, as the film has t hem in spades. Most of the jump scares consist of Toby rushing at the camera, accompanied with a loud noise. In fact, that may be all of the jump scares in the film. There is little to no suspense, which isn’t exactly a surprise from this franchise, but it’s disappointing nonetheless.
The climax also feels rushed and thrown together at the last minute. Some closure is made, but it ultimately feels anticlimactic after the buildup from the five previous films. Speaking of those films, The Ghost Dimension completely ignores the mythology set up by The Marked Ones, one of the best entries in the franchise. Nothing about the Marked Ones and the army for the devil is ever brought up in The Ghost Dimension.
In fact, the film pretty much ignores the fourth film as well, playing more as a sequel to the third film. Everything I told you you needed to know before you see this film doesn’t matter. You can walk in having never seen a Paranormal Activity film before and be fine.Also, after four films of trying to groom Hunter to be Toby’s host, this film suddenly decides to bring in Leila as another host for Toby, as if the filmmakers were like “oh yeah, Hunter was important for four films, but so is this other girl that has never been brought up before.” It all comes across as lazy and convoluted.
Overall, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is a huge missed opportunity for Paramount (and this is coming from someone who enjoys Paranormal Activity 3 and Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) and an insult to fans of the franchise who have spent seven years waiting to see how it all ends. It’s so bad that it would almost be welcome if they made another film to really end the series, and utilize elements from all of the films. Unfortunately, that day will probably never come.
