Paranormal Activity: Die Gezeichneten

I really enjoyed this film, not as much as the first three of the series, but this one has a sort of real charm to it. We are out of the rich neighborhoods to an actual normal family who finds themselves in a terrifying adventure.

Because the characters were normal I could relate to them. I have known people like these characters, the charm, the humor, etc. I just felt at home with this film.

Once the paranormal activity happens it's pretty interesting but it seems to be pretty much the same things we have already seen. There was a few jump scares that got me, a few creepy moments that made me look around in my own dark room. We are given a little more answers than the previous films, however these answers just provide more questions, which can work if it hasn't been done four times already.

I did enjoy the atmosphere of this film a lot better than the others, even though I would say it's not as good as the first three, it is definitely a step up in this new trilogy so to speak. I am a fan of B movies and sometimes bad movies in general because they can be fun. I know a lot of people didn't enjoy this film and I can see why, but I did enjoy this film a lot and I like the new direction and how I could relate to these characters. So like the previous one, you're either gonna like it or hate it, but that's up to you to find out. For me, I liked it but I didn't love it.

The acting is quite good, that is the only reason why I am giving it 4 stars.

I love the first 3 movies they were exciting and fun. The 4th and 5th one don't feel like the same movie. When I watched this I realized I shouldn't have watched it because it makes me appreciate the first three less. This sucks I loved these movies until the 4th and 5th one. The writers are jumping around scraping for a way to draw out a movie concept that was fine the way it was. The main two actors were great though so don't hold it against them. But the movie wasn't scary and had a couple okay moments but all in all not worth your $$. You pretty much wait an hour for the movie to actually get exciting. Maybe there's hope for the next one if they decide to make one but honestly I want to just stick with the first three.

The Marked ones is without doubt one of the best films from the Franchise (first one apart.) It's the usual format, every stereotype included, kids, found footage, person turned away, being on top of the ceiling, but somehow this one has an air of originality about it. Unlike the last few films the character's are well rounded and for the first time likeable, so when things start happening to them you care. There's nothing particularly original here, the ending has definitely been done to death, but it doesn't seem to matter. Not bad at all.

I've only seen the first Paranormal Activity so I'm reviewing this as a standalone movie, even though it's actually a spin off or whatever. It's the same premise though - found-footage, teenagers, ghosts, demons, and what have you.

The first 30 or so minutes I was invested in the movie. I really was. I liked the characters, I thought the filmmakers were doing something interesting and fresh, there are some comedic bits thrown around, it was just enjoyable to watch. Then it turns into cliché city. Easy jump scares, stupid mythology that isn't even explained and makes no sense, people running around from room to room with no suspense. It's like halfway through the movie the filmmakers were like "oh crap, this has to be a Paranormal Activity movie. Let's just make a bunch of supernatural crap happen to these characters we developed and wrap this up as quickly as possible". And that's how the entire third act feels: rushed and lazy. It basically went from being an intriguing murder mystery to a generic possession movie.

I won't say it's terrible because I didn't hate myself watching it. It just got really uninteresting really fast. Near the end I was just waiting for it to be over because you know there's not going to be any explanation or any depth to the story at that point. You just want these stupid jump scares to stop so you can go about your life not watching this movie. There are worse found-footage movies out there, but The Marked Ones is definitely one you can skip over.

If you have watched the films prior you kind of got used to certain characters, but for this one, it took it in a new direction where they could literally expand it to anything near enough. It's a good film, just something was missing to give it that top mark.