Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

This review may contain spoilers!

I thought I'd already seen Poltergeist this year but then the franchise that refuses to die out came along with it's blatant rip off so i have to review it again. I would give Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension a 4/10.

One thing that is timeless in the Paranormal franchise is the score and the sound effects that are utilised; this entire film sounds really good and sets the tone of the scares. I also have to admit that the pacing moved along pretty well, but that's no big feat as the film isn't even an hour and a half long. Some of the special effects within the film are quite cool; specifically the early stuff we see with the shadows.

Chris J. Murray, who played Ryan, is actually a pretty good lead in this film; his concern is genuine so you fall into his obsession of solving this possession. Michael Krawic, who played Father Todd, gave quite a natural performance; however he was also extremely powerful in the exorcism scene.

Yet the best performance came from Dan Gill, who played Mike. You see Gill's performance embodies what the horror genre lacks and seriously needs more of: realistic characters and performances. Gill is naturally quite entertaining and comedic as Mike, his chemistry with Murray is phenomenal. But when the film starts moving towards the horror aspects he reacts in a realistic manner. There's a great scene where the demon forms behind him that really stood out from the rest because his terror was so real.

I'm tired of jump scares. I scare easily so anything will scare me and get a reaction from me, however when even I can recognise the laziness of just inserting a jump scare for shock factor then I can tell the film isn't achieving much. This film is also burdened with tropes: possessed children, exorcisms, religious paraphernalia, Bloody Mary, creaky flloorboards, flickering lights and that priest showing up to try save the day. It's such a basic, simple plot that wastes your time. The found footage cinematography is over used, unfortunately it's an aspect of this franchise and it's clear that they're grasping at straws to keep using it. The editing is very simple, the transitions between scenes could have been done by some kid on Movie Maker. And the other aspect of the special effects is that some of them look really fake, especially in 3D. If you're going to make a shadow hand pierce through somebody at least put some effort into making it look half good.

Brit Shaw, who played Emily, was dealt a poorly written character in this film; this is the mother of the girl who is possessed yet she has no presence until the very end of the feature. Ivy George, who played Leila, isn't a great child actress; there are a few dialogue scenes where she looks and sounds as if she can barely remember her lines. Olivia Taylor Dudley, who played Skyler, was a very vague role; her connection to the family wasn't very clear in the film and so you just felt like she was there out of a need for more characters.