Probably because it takes it’s time getting to the scares – the proper jolts don’t really arrive until the final half hour – and it’s nice that a horror franchise takes it’s time building tension rather trying to get us to scream before the opening titles have finished. It’s the same trick as usual: rumbling bass of dread, camera pans, there’s nothing there, camera pans again, SUDDENLY THERE’S SOMETHING THERE, camera pans again, it’s either gone or it’s running at the camera. The Marked Ones expands the entire mythology of what’s been going on with the series to date, but it doesn’t really stretch itself in terms of scares. If you’re not a fan of the Paranormal Activity series, then this is neither going to change your opinion, and nor is it an easy entry point for those completely uninitiated. It helps that the teens we’re spending time with are actually quite likeable, and performed well by the young actors. Having a bit more in common with superhero flick Chronicle than its own series, thanks to footage of the teens testing out the limits of their haunting, which they’ve kind of confused with superpowers. When she dies, and a group of teenagers investigate her apartment for clues of her supernatural leanings, things begin to take a turn for the horrific. Mostly gone too is the Katie and Kristi story, as this time we’re in and around an apartment block with a group of friendly Latin American friends and families, except for the one scary lady who everyone thinks is a witch. Switching things up slightly from the set formula, gone are the static security cameras from the previous entries, as we follow this movie’s protagonists about with the camcorder they take with them everywhere. The Paranormal Activity franchise has been particularly forgetful, as The Marked Ones is the fifth time someone has lost this footage, with a sixth (and supposedly final) tape to be found this Halloween. As my scary-moviegoing friend Glenn Leopold put it, “We’re the marked ones, the audience.” How long shamelessly lazy filmmakers can rip off their fans should not be a smug point of pride.There is an inherent problem with the entire found-footage horror subgenre, in that there seems to be an awful lot of clumsy people losing these videotapes, and then someone else seems to be taking it upon themselves to find them, edit them and release them to the public. But it turns out he only had a hook and didn’t respect his audience enough to see it through to good movie pleasure. Director Christopher Landon includes a number of novelties and twists, like a Simon toy that channels demons. Maybe people making tons of money don’t have to listen to critics, but they ought to reward their faithful. Instead of pursuing this diverse thread, though, the film starts stealing from a dozen other movies and then ends in the same damn place the all other Paranormal movies do - literally. Strange noises draw some recent high school grads with a camera to explore its dark secrets. The apartment house below belongs to a bruja. And for the first half hour, that vein is pulsing with possibilities. Set gloriously in the nearby city of Oxnard in a middle-class Latino apartment house, the film offers a wide-open opportunity to employ Mexican-American folkways, superstitions, and esoterica to create a story that plays for a largely ignored Hispanic audience, as well as to curious gringos. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones actually offers a brilliant premise. The director’s sheer laziness has turned the experience of waiting for novel thrills into the more mundane shock of having our collective pocket picked. This one is a spin-off ( Paranormal Activity 5 is due later this year), and though it promised a refreshingly diverse approach to its rehashing of the Blair Witch found-footage horror shtick, it ultimately goes to familiar ground for a dumb conclusion. Of course, there will be sequels, though tight producers who spend no money on stars, sets, or special effects are only making 10 times their investment on more recent films. The first Paranormal Activity cost $15,000 to make, according to Box Office Mojo, and earned $100 million. How many limbs should Saw saw? How Insidious does it get before it’s just tedious? “All the way to the bank” is a franchise-maker’s smug reply, and this franchise began as a gold mine. Who cares if Adam Sandler films are stupid as long as kids keep shelling out for popcorn and tickets? Horror films, which have always been exploitative and inventive, are no exception. Nobody making scads of money needs to listen to critics. A good premise is squandered in this shamelessly lazy spin-off from the Paranormal Activity franchise.
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