Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

Though the series has its fair share of haters, I've been a Paranormal Activity fan for quite some time now. I love the first three and Paranormal Activity 3 still remains the most scared I've ever been in a theater (keep in mind I don't see many horror films). 

Recently though, the series has been struggling. Paranormal Activity 4, which in retrospect I overrated, had the typical jump scares, but less effective ones, and it didn't do much to move the mythology of this series forward. As that would be the final numerically-named sequel, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, again a film I feel like I overrated, followed with far fewer scares, but a greater focus on the mythology. Both films are incredibly forgettable except for that mind-bending ending in The Marked Ones that pretty much solidified I'd be seeing the next film in the series. 

With the announcement that Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension would be the series' final installment, I was very curious to see how everything wrapped up, but was quickly discouraged when I found out a couple weeks ago that the film would only be released in select theaters and VOD. I was able to catch it easily at my local theater, but often that release schedule is indicative of the film's quality.

Unfortunately that's exactly the case here. The Ghost Dimension wraps almost everything up with answers, but along the way we get a very by-the-numbers Paranormal Activity film that doesn't do much to feature unique frights outside of the building jump-scares and end violence that the series has pretty much crafted into a formula. I wont spoil the mythology details but The Ghost Dimension basically can be mapped to 1) family recently moved into house 2) weird stuff starts happening 3) their kid starts acting weird 4) there are doubters 5) doubters become believers 6) they hire a priest 7) violence ensues. I'm not sure what I expected exactly, but as this was the last film, I expected some radical differences and there weren't many here. Even the writing of the characters seems lazy compared to past versions. There are some funny jokes here and there, but nothing to make these characters memorable within the series outside of the attractive female leads. 

"Oh don't worry honey, that's just a dead girl on the screen behind you!"

Her new contacts don't seem to be working out...

Despite the feeling as if the film is going through the motions, this installment does have two very unique qualities to it: the use of 3D and the focus on answering questions. For five installments now, the series has been referring to this demonic possession, Toby. But who is Toby? Who are the witches we started seeing in PA3? What is the connection to PA3? At the risk of mildly spoiling The Marked Ones, how do the possessed time travel? While my jaw never dropped with the answers provided in this finale, it does a good job at wrapping up the outlying questions and there are some fairly mind-bending moments with regard to dimensional portals. The ending is in fact, an ending, though it's still open enough should the studio ever feel like milking this cow again. What I enjoyed about The Ghost Dimension the most is actually just that: the ghost dimension. The film's 3D is very subtle at the beginning, to the point where someone in my theater actually complained, thinking that they accidentally put the 2D version in. But early on in the film, they find a beefed-up camera that can pick up further dimensions. There is no explanation to this camera's existence, but whenever it's used, it captures this other dimension and is really the only time the 3D effects are active. Swirls of ghosty mist surround the audience and it really does feel like they added another dimension where the paranormal reside. Some smart editing between normal cameras and the "special" camera help to further play with the audience's visual stimuli. It's such a well implemented feature that I felt it saved the movie from being outright "bad" and it if you must see this final installment, you really should do it in 3D. Personally, I would love to see a supercut of Paranormal Activity 3 released with this "other dimensional" footage. Now that would be something special. 

Toby you look awful! Get some sleep!

By the end of it all though, The Ghost Dimension really only proves that this series is about as out of gas as everyone thinks it is. For those of you like me that have been invested in the series from the beginning, it's worth a look if nothing else to see how it ends, but if anyone was curious as to whether or not this was the Paranormal Activity to jump on board; it's not. 

At least the fun 3D saved it from being a total disappointment.

CONS:

• More than any of the previous installments, this one feels like it's going through the motions. We've seen almost this exact movie before and we've seen better versions of it
• Weak, unmemorable characters
• The scares aren't as effective as they used to be

PROS:

• This finale focuses on the series' mythology. None of it will blow your mind but the concluding answers provide a lot of context for the events that came before it
• Some really creepy connections to the third film (i.e. the series' best)
• Some decent scares scattered throughout
• Very smart, fun, and rather subtle use of 3D. I really enjoyed the extra "dimension"

Rath's Review Score: 5/10