Actividad paranormal: la dimensión fantasma

I've always had a lot of respect for the "Paranormal Activity" movies, if not a whole lot of love. "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" (R, 1:28) is the sixth installment in the series, which has scared up about $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide, against less than $25 million in production expenses. The original "Paranormal Activity" (2009) was filmed in the house owned by Oren Peli, who was the film's producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor. Peli made that film for $15,000 and it ended up earning nearly $200 million worldwide – almost 13 THOUSAND times what it cost. This, of course, was the film that started that billion dollar franchise and, co-produced by Jason Blum, helped establish Blumhouse Productions, which eventually brought horror fans the "Insidious", "Sinister" and "The Purge" films, as well as the Best Picture Oscar Nominee "Whiplash" in 2014. Now THAT'S a success story that anyone who has ever tried to make a buck on their own idea or vision has to respect… but what Movie Fans really want to know about a movie is whether it's any good. That's what matters to us.

Personally, I liked all of the "Paranormal Activity" movies… but I didn't LOVE them. As they were bringing us creative stories, helping to turn the found-footage subgenre from a novelty into a viable filmmaking option, redefining horror movies for the 21st century and giving audiences thrills, chills and our fills… of plot twists, there was a downside to the fun. For one thing, the "Paranormal" movies did what the "Fast & Furious" series did – give us films out of the sequence of the overall narratives of its characters – but even tougher to keep straight. The other problem with the "Paranormal" films has always been a lack of action. Although they've put some scary and interesting moments on the screen, in most of the movies, not a whole lot happens – especially in the first one which seems overly dependent on the single big payoff at the very end of the film. The advertising for "The Ghost Dimension" promises a franchise-capping story that will answer all of the fans' questions and take us where no "Paranormal Activity" has taken us before. The question is whether the sixth installment gives the series the ending fans deserve.

"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" takes place in 2013, after the events of "Paranormal Activity 2" and reflective of the events in "Paranormal Activity 3", from a present-day perspective. Young married couple Ryan and Emily Fleege (Chris J. Murray and Brit Shaw) move into a house built on the land where the home of Katie and Micah stood in the first film. Ryan and Emily have a little girl named Leila (Ivy George), whom they call Lee, and Emily's sister Skyler (Olivia Taylor Dudley) lives there too. When Ryan's brother, Mike (Dan Gill), newly separated from his wife, comes to stay for a couple weeks, there are then enough unsuspecting people in the house for the ghosts to begin tormenting.

While setting up Ryan's Christmas decorations, Ryan and Mike come across a mysterious box that Ryan says isn't his. Inside there is a series of VHS video tapes and an old, but uniquely upgraded video camera. The tapes show the young Kristi and Katie, circa 1988, being introduced to Toby (as in the third film) and being taught to make the most of their psychic abilities. That camera has the ability to see and record spectral phenomena. As Ryan and Mike try to figure out what's really happening on those tapes and record increasingly prominent ghost-like apparitions, Lee is observed talking to an invisible "friend" and behaving very oddly. At first, the Fleeges try to solve the mystery and protect the little girl themselves. They eventually call in a priest (Michael Krawic), but it starts to look like it might all be too little, too late.

"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" is a very disappointing ending to the groundbreaking series. The film suffers from the same malady as all the others – not enough action and not enough dread until the very end. The special effects are good, with paranormal wisps of black smoke looking a lot like those in "Crimson Peak", and the 3-D gives a very nice depth to the shots of that wide-open house and those spectral images and it serves the few brief action scenes pretty well. Unfortunately, contrary to what the movie's advertising would lead us to believe, our peek into the Ghost Dimension is frustratingly fleeting, with even the "Poltergeist" remake doing a better job of showing us "the other side". This movie has a half-way decent climactic scene, but the story's ultimate resolution and the final image on the screen elicited dissatisfied groans from my fellow theater patrons. Although I settled for the more subtle eye roll myself, I felt their pain. Basically, this movie gives us the standard "Paranormal Activity" formula, but without a worthwhile payoff. Much like the ghosts that the films portray, the 2015 installment shows that the "Paranormal Activity" movies have outlived their usefulness and should just fade away. "C-"

When you look back on old horror series like 'Friday the 13th' or 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and you see 'Part 8: Jason Takes Manhatten' or 'Part 5: The Dream Child' you can't help but shudder at just how ridiculous the sound of that sequel is. Sadly I fear when people look back on the 'Paranormal Activity' series 'The Ghost Dimension' is going to sound equally ridiculous and appear the same for anyone who bothers to watch it. The film isn't good and does a real disservice to an otherwise great series. A huge disappointment.

The filmmakers on this one seemed to have absolutely no understanding of what made the first four (or five including 'The Marked Ones') so effective. It was the fact that even for those of us that don't for the faintest second believe in ghosts or demons, it's still scary because everything was so simple. A person standing over their partner at night simply staring at them for hours on end is much more frightening of an image than actually seeing a completely unrealistic monster-like creature jump out of nowhere. This film did not belong in the series and if it is indeed the last 'Paranormal Activity' film to be made, it was a sad way to end things.

The weak performances, over-reliance on CGI, and lack of tension all make Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension an unsatisfying and unenjoyable movie experience. The poor screenwriting is evident throughout the movie, with examples such as the lazy narrative convenience of having a character "follow them out of the house". Its failure to deliver any real scares or tension makes it an ultimately disappointing experience. There are virtually no scary moments and the tension is non-existent, making it hard to stay engaged throughout the runtime. It's a shame, as the premise of the film had a lot of potential. Sadly, it just doesn't deliver.

Remember Saw? Remember what happened to that franchise? After becoming a Halloween staple, it was immediately overshadowed by the newer, fresher Paranormal Activity series, with the last Saw using 3D as a final resort to churn out one more film from the dying franchise. Now, we're seeing the same thing from Paranormal Activity. In fact, the desperation to milk one last film is apparent, and it's sad. Alas, this is the cycle every horror franchise goes through. I have to admit, I personally enjoyed this series longer than I would expect. To call PA4 disappointing is an understatement, but The Marked Ones made up for it and surprised the hell out of me.

However, TGD is easily the worst film in the series, one of the worst films of the year, and a sad, cynical, soulless attempt to salvage whatever is left from this franchise. There's literally nothing memorable here, nothing iconic. It's all so generic and inept, from the constant jump scares, to the forgettable actors, to the 3D, which is used in the most clichéd way possible. The story doesn't make a lick of sense compared to all the buildup in the previous films, most likely due to the noticeable absence of Christopher Landon, who wrote all the sequels up until this point. And why the hell did it take two years for four writers to write the script? Was that really necessary? Overall, there's not much to be said about TGD because there's not much to actually talk about. By the time of writing this review, I've already forgotten about 90% of the movie, and you will too. So don't watch it. You don't need to see the activity. Whatever you come up with in your imagination is probably far scarier than this movie would ever dream to achieve.

The Paranormal Activity franchise has definitely been one to follow. The story follows a demon, under the guise of 'Toby' who has been steadily haunting a family and racking up quite a body count. This entry, which promises to be the final one, seems a little distant from the rest of the series. The family move into a house where they find a video camera able to pick up spirit activity and a collection of VHS tapes documenting Katie and Kristi after the events of PA3. The spirit camera is the USP of the film, as they delve into 3D filming ectoplasm and eventually showing 'Toby' as he starts haunting the families daughter. As you can expect, they do start to milk the 3D element too much towards the end of the film, especially in the climax, and quite a lot of the 'activity' scenes seem to play to the audience more than the characters. However, being able to see the demons movements definitely add to the building of tension, and is a much stronger installment than PA4 and 'the marked ones'. The main problem lies within the need for another, final installment, to finally tie up all the loose ends.