Paranormal Finality

Hurray!  The long-running and critically maligned ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise thankfully draws to a close with ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,’ the sixth and last film of the low budget, “found footage” series which became an unexpected sensation eight years ago.  It is only a matter of time that PA would eventually fall prey to the “law of diminishing returns,” which arguably happened three sequels ago after PA3.  But you can’t blame Oren Peli for milking this cash cow for all she’s worth, because the series as a whole made something like 40 times its budget, due in no small part to suckers like me.

 

PA:TGD isn’t unwatchably horrible, but came pretty close.  What it attempted to do is to answer any lingering questions and provide the series with closure.  As in the case of nearly all of the previous films (except the last entry, ‘Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones’ which was a detour of sorts), a daemonic entity named “Tobey” stalks young children, in this case six-year old Leila, who like the others speaks to him like an imaginary friend.  We’ve all been here before, but ‘The Ghost Dimension’ ties in with some of the other films, in particular the third installment (arguably the best of the franchise) which took place in 1988 when Katie and Kristie were young and blissfully unaware that they’re witches (luckily they didn't come across the subject of my next review).

 

Unless you’re a diehard PA fan you’re not missing much here if you choose to skip PA:TGD.  Even if you are you’re likely to feel a sense of déjà vu as you watch this movie.  It’s the same tired formula as nearly all the previous films in the series.  A young couple discovers to their increasing horror that their child is targeted by an evil daemonic entity and tries to exorcise it with the help of Catholic clergy but fails epically and dies horribly for their vain attempt.  There, I just saved you ten bucks.

 

Grade: C-