Movie Info
Movie Name: Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Studio: Blumhouse Productions
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): January 3, 2014
MPAA Rating: R
I have mastered the blank stare
Jesse Arista (Andrew Jacobs) has just graduated high school and is looking forward to summer. When he and his friend Hector Estrella (Jorge Diaz) get a camera, they capture the woman below them named Anna (Gloria Sandoval) performing a ritual on a girl shortly before she is killed by a fellow student named Oscar (Carlos Pratts). Jesse finds that something is around him after discovering a bite on his arm and that nothing can seem to hurt him. Hector and Marisol (Gabrielle Walsh) notice that Jesse is starting to change…and they discover the horror may have started at birth.
Simon says “You’re Screwed, Jesse”
Directed by Christopher B. Landon, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is a spin-off of the popular “found footage” franchise falling between Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2014). The movie was released to mostly average to reviews comparable to the other films in the series.
I keep going back to Paranormal Activity movies hoping for more. I do think they have a style, and the films often do provide jumps…unfortunately, the convoluted story which have been weaved since the first Paranormal Activity was released in 2007 helps and hinders the series.
Faith fall…wahoo!
It is always interesting to see how the Paranormal Activity films link together and The Marked Ones is no different. The series took a year off in 2013 and 2014 has nuggets into what is occurring in the Paranormal Activity world. The idea of a side story in nearly present day is interesting and there are clues to the previous films with flashes of tapes of Katie and Kristi, their grandmother, and the ending which dovetails back to the beginning of the series…unfortunately, it is expected now and leaves the viewer waiting for stuff to happen.
I will say that the movies do a decent job casting actors acting naturally. The first movie was the roughest with the horrible Micah (Micah Sloat) who also appears here. The film also smartly brings back Molly Ephraim as Ali Rey from Paranormal Activity 2 (and one of the few likable characters of the whole series). The main cast of this film feels natural, and I could see them goofing off together…it just doesn’t always make for good storytelling until the ending sequence in every Paranormal Activity film in which all hell breaks loose.
I need some dental work!
The movie franchise does a great job being innovative with the product. Be it the fan cam and the retro style of Paranormal Activity 3 or the Xbox Kinetic scene in Paranormal Activity 4, the filmmakers do a good job with the style. Here, GoPros are used to change up the story and a fun throwback Simon game works as a medium to the spirit world.
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is just another film in the franchise. All of these films have their moments, but the story really needs to keep moving on and have an endgame goal. There is talk that the witches are building an army of soldiers…we need to see this army and possibly the demon they are working for at some point. I hope that the series can keep innovating and someday it might make a film that is creative, scary, and more memorable. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is followed by Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension in 2015.
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