Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

First of all, allow me to stress that IMDb has been my reference point for years now - with its share of ups and downs. This time however, I felt like I need to say something, because the overall rating of this movie is a gross understatement.

Second of all, reading this you should keep in mind that I am no particular fan of the series. I have seen all the previous parts except for no.4 (I think), and as much as I appreciated them, I don't wear PA t-shirts, nor do I have PA posters hanging over my bed. This is a very solid series, with the first part being the obvious winner, but to rant The Marked Ones is a bit unjust.

I saw this movie last night at a cinema (which, I believe, is important). I won't attempt comparing it to the other films in the franchise, but it certainly provided some awesome chills. More importantly, there were some parts of the movie that kept me on the edge of my seat for minutes, not just for a moment. That is, I believe, what makes a successful horror movie. Plus I'm definitely not into torture- porn, but there is no gore in this one, which is great.

• The story is neither super-original nor an obvious rip-off. - The "found footage" modus operandi works just fine throughout a movie, and - acting is believable enough to root for the characters.

The Marked Ones does not write genre history - nor does it boast with such ambitions. But if you're into some good chills, give it a shot. Don't believe everything people (including critics) write. Have an unbiased go at it and see for yourself. It's just another decent horror flick, not Blair Witch Project.

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.

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.

When the news of a new entry in the series came to my attention, the idea exhausted me; especially given the previous entries and their deteriorating quality. Nevertheless staying true to the reason these films are still being made, and fans of real horror, like myself continue to watch them, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, rewards its loyal audience with a fairly sensible connection with the previous films and characters.

In a way, the film does show some maturity, and they seem to have graduated from chicken feet on the floor and utensils and sheets flying around the place...at least for the most part. Here to begin with the lead character, Jesse was given just enough footage to get the audience to like him. We begin to instantly empathize with his family and friends and unlike the previous movies, none of them are extremely annoying. The actors, all do justice to their parts, and if not extremely strong performances, are convincing enough to keep us watching

This entry does give the audience more action than the prequels, however they divert themselves into satanic rituals, rather than pay any focus to the actual demon they are to be dealing with. There are just enough scares to justify one watch, and enough back story to make sense of a few huge question marks the previous films leave us with.

With the exception of these, the film has not much else to offer, and it is best to be watched as a part of this series and not compared to several of the other strong demonic possession films we've had in the past few years.