When I saw “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,” I picked what seemed like the most appropriate time to see it: a 10 p.m. showing that would get out close to midnight. What speaks volumes about this movie is that when the movie was over, I was able to walk the one hundred feet between the theater doors and my car without angst.
When a family discovers a box in their house filled with old VHS tapes and a customized camcorder, they begin to notice strange activity happening around the house. Among these strange activities includes a strange object that only the camera can pick up moving around the house, and the family’s young daughter, Leila played by Ivy George, talking to an imaginary friend named Toby. While looking through the VHS tapes, which contains footage of the two sisters from the other “Paranormal Activity” movies, the family learns that Leila is an important part to a witch coven’s plan.
The movie is more of the same stuff we have seen before. It is another one-dimensional, personality-lacking family who seems to think their lives are so interesting that they need to be filming every second, even before the ghosts show up. Then, when the ghost shows up, there are a bunch of cameras set up around the house in the middle of the night to catch some sort of ghost activity.
The big marketing gimmick for this movie seems to be, “For the first time you will see the activity.” This is done through the use of the customized camera that the family finds which can pick up on ghosts. While it is finally a new aspect to the film series, it is obvious that the crew either did not know or did not care about one of the biggest rules of horror: what we see is not as scary as what we did not see. It is scary to know that a demon is lurking somewhere in the house, and it might scare you when the demon reveals its position by moving some furniture. It is not scary when you not only know where the demon is, but that it either looks like a figure made out of black goo or a comical-looking vampire.
While jump scares and loud noises reigned galore in the previous sequels to the franchise, the gimmick has been noticeably toned down when it came to this movie. With the introduction of the visual demon, the audience did not need a swiveling chair or an opening door to show them where the demon is. Though, that is not to say those lazy scare tactics are not present and overused in this movie.
The only scary part of the movie is the ending because it leaves it open to the possibility of another sequel. While the movie’s producer, Jason Blum has said that this sixth installment will be the last of the franchise (1), the movie ends feeling like it is moving onto a new chapter of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise that could go on even longer.
If you have seen any of the “Paranormal Activity” sequels, then you have seen this movie already. Jump scares and loud noises take the place of craft and building a scary atmosphere, and cameras sit around, boringly filming flat shots of rooms waiting for something to happen.
Final Grade: D-
