Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

Christopher Landon – 2014 – USA

As a bit of a disclaimer, I have to say that I’ve only seen the very first Paranormal Activity movie before this one, so I have no idea if there is any continuity in the saga that is important to know.  Regardless, The Marked Ones struck me as pretty effective, but it also sparked some thought about the extent to which we can consider effectiveness in these movies as truly impressive or admirable.  Sure, the scares work, and if that’s all that matters in a horror film, then all is well.  But the scares are cheap.  They work because these movies are coming off of an assembly line patterned on a tried and true template.  (The same thing is currently happening on a much grander scale in Marvel’s superhero movies; utilizing a magic formula with which the writers and directors wisely never tamper.)  For my part, I long to be surprised by movies more than pampered and spoon-fed.  So, while I can’t argue that movies like this satisfy their audience, which is certainly better than baffling or boring it, I wonder with some sadness if these filmmakers began their careers dreaming of being interchangeable journeymen, or if they have been impelled to water down their ambitions in exchange for the easier gratifications of pay and marginal celebrity.  The Marked Ones just is what it is – with decent actors and good scares – but it’s nothing more and will have no legacy.