Well a Happy New Year to you all.
2013 was an interesting year for me, and hopefully for you too. Now it’s time to look forward to 2014, and wonder what this year will bring us. I personally have quite a few projects going on already this year. My new novel, ‘The Wilds’ was delayed from its planned end of the year release, but will be available very soon. I am already well under way on another novel. As well as working on a second short story collection, and a non fiction book with my wife.
As you can imagine with all of this going on, it’s hard to keep up with regular blogging, but I shall endeavour to at least put up two new blogs a month, that is my New Years resolution. Like last year they will be a random smattering of pieces about writing, publishing, the horror genre, film reviews, interviews, and whatever else crosses my mind. So without further delay let’s begin the first blog of the year.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES
For those of you that have avoided the cinema, or other people for the last 5 years the Paranormal Activity series is the latest, seemingly unending horror franchise (taking over from Saw when they finally decided enough was enough). Though released in 2009 the first film in the series was made in 2007 (for an estimated $15,000) by first time director Oren Peli. The film was a smash hit on its release, it was a found footage story of a couple whose home was plagued by demonic forces. The film excelled in the less is more area, showing us very little but a few footprints and a shadow. The rest of the film was all about tension, and sound, as the couples lives became more and more effected by the entity in their home.
The success of the movie ( a US gross of $107,917,283) led to the inevitable sequel. Personally I find Paranormal Activity 2 to e the best and most entertaining of the series. It followed much the same formula as the first, but the scares were more cleverly crafted and the story added to the mythos of the first movie.
This was the followed by Paranormal Activity 3, a story that went back in time to 1980’s camcorder footage of the protagonists of the first two films as children, and how the horror began. Though this film shed some light on some things it left too many questions unanswered and created even more new questions. The scares in the 3rd installment had become a little formulaic and predictable. After the first two films I had seen enough people being dragged off by unseen assailants and was ready for more, which sadly the film didn’t deliver.
Then came Paranormal Activity 4 (AKA the one that made 3 look like a great film). This film takes place after the events of parts 1 and 2, and is in my opinion is very boring and derivative, it feels like a rehash of part 2 with very few good scares or plot development, it adds nothing new to the mythos.
By this point I, and most other people I know, were feeling that the franchise had lost its way and become stale. Part 5 was slated for release last halloween originally, but has now been postponed until October 2014, or has it?
Last night I went to the cinema to watch Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. This film was advertised as a spin off from the series, and not an official sequel. The film centers solely on a Hispanic community in Oxnard California, where after the death of an old woman (believed by all locals to be a witch) Jesse begins to experience strange phenomena. SPOILERS AHEAD. At first these seem exciting, he seems to have superhuman strength, and cannot fall down as some unseen force seems to be catching him. Of course this doesn’t last long before the sinister nature of these events are felt. Jesse begins to change, become more distant and cold towards his family and friends, and aggressive towards everyone. When his friends try to help him Jesse goes full on bat shit crazy possessed and it becomes a fight for his and his friends lives.
I won’t give away too much of the plot, as I hate to read reviews that do that. What I will say is this film is excellent. The scares are incredibly well crafted. The pace of the film is pitch perfect. The acting is astonishing, and finally we get to see more than just people being dragged off by the invisible man. It still doesn’t show as much as other horror movies would, but there is a definite rise in the intensity of the ‘activity’ within the film.
I believe beyond any shadow of a doubt that this film is not a spin off, but a direct sequel and the true Part 5. The film directly links to all of the previous films. It answers questions left hanging by those films, and adds greatly to the mythos of the series. So why the spin off status? The only thing I can think is that after the disappointment that was part 4, they wanted to regain peoples interest and thought that dubbing this a spin off would make more people willing to give it a chance, and as far as I’m concerned it worked. I for one now can’t wait for Halloween, and the release of Paranormal Activity 5 (though I will really see it as part 6) as this film has wetted my appetite for the franchise once more, and set up some wonderful possibilities for where it could go.
