Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

[Ethros]

I seen no one's started a thread for this movie, but skimming through the old threads for 2-4 the series seems to have a few fans here so I'll give this a shot.

So this is like PA 4.5, with the actual PA5 due out in October 2014. I've seen the marketing people call it a 'spin-off', 'cousin' etc to the series. 'Side-quel' if you will.


Set after PA4*, in the basic plot we have teenage Latino protagonists Jesse and his friend Hector, using their video camera to film their pranks and pratfalls, until one night a neighbour is murdered. Having accidentally filmed a schoolfriend running away from the scene, they decide to investigate – and stumble across an occult plot.


So this being the 4th sequel to the original Paranormal Activity most should know what to expect by now. Mmm, I mean yeah it certainly isn't a cinema classic, but as a fan I enjoyed it nonetheless. I liked the characters, their Latino friend was hot, not gonna lie about that, and nice to see Ali back from Paranormal Activity 2 (though her appearance is fairly brief.)
Some nice and clever continuity porn with people and places linking back especially to PA3 & PA1.


Some of the scares are very obvious by now- ie. hear a noise, turn round to investigate, nothing there, turn back, SOMEONE'S IN YOUR FACE, etc. But I'll admit at a couple of points I maybe put my fingers over my eyes




Anyone else seen this one?




*So chronologically the series would go 3, 2, 1, end of 2, 4, Marked Ones

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

I saw this film opening weekend and enjoyed it. The story could be a loose adaptation of HP Lovecraft's "Dreams in the Witch House" (I have no evidence that this was the filmmaker's intention or just coincidentally similar, but many of the story beats match up) and -- viewed as an unofficial Lovecraft adaptation -- the movie is pretty effective.

The characters were great (loved the best friend and grandma) and included just enough humor to offset the scares.

The ending left me puzzled...

Spoiler: the movie's final scene

I'm fine with them introducing time travel, but...did the kid actually change the past? Did he alter the sequence of events in the first film? Was it just a bit of fanwank, not to be taken too seriously?
I'm still uncertain as to what I saw.

Still a nice addition to the Paranormal franchise (been a fan since the first movie) but I wish it had been more successful, box-office-wise.

 

[Ethros]

The ending left me puzzled...

Spoiler: the movie's final scene

I'm fine with them introducing time travel, but...did the kid actually change the past? Did he alter the sequence of events in the first film? Was it just a bit of fanwank, not to be taken too seriously?
I'm still uncertain as to what I saw.

Well,

Spoiler: ending spoilers

At the end of PA1 you see from the bedroom camera POV that Katie sleepwalks downstairs, screams for Micah, he goes running down and you hear all this kerfuffle but obvs can't see anything as the cameras upstairs. So here you just see what happened downstairs, nothing is changed. Hector woke her up, and she screams for Michah who comes running down who she then kills, while Hector flees and is then attacked by Jesse.
Like I said, kinda nice continuity porn

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

The ending left me puzzled...

Spoiler: the movie's final scene

I'm fine with them introducing time travel, but...did the kid actually change the past? Did he alter the sequence of events in the first film? Was it just a bit of fanwank, not to be taken too seriously?
I'm still uncertain as to what I saw.

Well,

Spoiler: ending spoilers

At the end of PA1 you see from the bedroom camera POV that Katie sleepwalks downstairs, screams for Micah, he goes running down and you hear all this kerfuffle but obvs can't see anything as the cameras upstairs. So here you just see what happened downstairs, nothing is changed. Hector woke her up, and she screams for Michah who comes running down who she then kills, while Hector flees and is then attacked by Jesse.
Like I said, kinda nice continuity porn

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Too cool.

 

[inflatabledalek]

No love for The Marked Ones?

The marketing for this seems to have been a bit confused,as Ethros says it's not officially the fifth film (which is going to be out in October apparently) but pimped as some sort of special Latino targeted standalone spin-off. Ignore that though, the last minute of this film will only make sense if you really know the end of the first Paranormal Activity, as well as recalling one line of dialogue from about an hour earlier in this film. From the vigorous DVD commentary I had to put up with from my fellow cinema patrons (and it reminded me how useless the audience were when I went to see the first one. It's as if only idiots go see these films. I have seen all five) I suspect most people who've seen this have been left very confused.

Spoiler: PA5... no 4.5... no... just 5... or 6? or -1...

The big loud debate in the screening I saw it in was over whether Katie was the naked woman or the woman who had given them directions to the house in the first place. The whole time travel thing had perhaps understandably- as, if you didn't know the poor bastard had suddenly gone back to the end of the first film, movement through the years wouldn't be the obvious assumption- been been completely forgotten.

Without checking I think there were revisits of the locations from all the films- obviously the house in the "Present" is the one from the third film- not to mention jumping back to young Katie and Kristie (though I only realised that was supposed to be them from the credits, the same actors?), I think when he was running back through time zones the house from the second film was seen as well, possibly the fourth too?

But all that is just visual fluff, the belated, bonkers, explanation for what actually happened downstairs at the end of the first one... well, it's novel if nothing else. I don't think anyone would have ever guessed Katie was screaming because a time traveller tapped her on the shoulder.

And there was some proper expansion and definition of the mythology, the witches are working with EVIL to raise an army of possessed first born sons for... EVIL. I presume the "Proper" fifth film with pick up on that.

I did really like the good guys weren't as stupid as the girl from the fourth film and did go for help before taking on the forces of EVIL (and there were sensible obstacles in their way to stop them going to the main boy's parents), and the attempted raid on the witches at the end included some people who tooled up properly first, even if it didn't do much good in the end. I'm generally against guns, but fully support their use in the fighting of EVIL demons.

EDIT: Oh, the girl who sent them to the house was the only surviving member of Katie's family from the second film! Wouldn't have realised without TVTropes but it's nice to have her final fate covered at last, and explains so many of my fellow audience getting her and Katie mixed up.

All in all, the film had some good, genuine scares and the leads managed to walk that fine line between being likable enough to make you care but at the same time just dickish enough to make it quite enjoyable when terrible things happened to them.

There were some nice franchise gags as well- the old school equivalent of the Kinnect from the last film being especially funny (as was the rehash of the "Open the cupboard of EVIL!" from the end of the third film).

 

[Tulin]

It starts here in Australia this Thursday 23/1.

I will go and see it at he cinema, if only because it's been a while since I've seen a horror flick at the movies.

 

[Ethros]

Yeah I didn't realise on first viewing that those two girls in the basement were the young Katie & Kristie from PA3 (having come forward in time through the portal in their cupboard)

But yeah, its a shame it was labelled as just a spin-off, as this is just as important to the mythology than any of the others, maybe more, probably than PA4 which didn't make a whole heap of sense really.