Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Movie Review (Spoiler Free)

Another year, another Paranormal Activity flick, because apparently we haven’t yet obtained enough of them. But can this sixth instalment of the franchise convince, or is it another dumpster fire?

Genre: Horror / Mystery

Director: Gregory Plotkin

Cast: Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Dan Gill, Ivy George, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Michael Krawic, Don McManus & Hallie Foote.

Run Time: 88 min.

US Release: 23 October 2015

UK Release: 23 October 2015

German Release: 22 October 2015

This being my blog for reviews, I find myself responsible for writing a review for at least one of the Paranormal films. However, this is probably going to be the first and last, as I am not a fan of this franchise at all. To me, these are among the laziest and worst horror pictures ever released. Regrettably, I seem to be in the minority here, as we keep on getting sequel after sequel of this crap series.

When the Fleege family - Ryan (Chris Murray), his wife Emily (Brit Shaw), and their 7-year-old daughter Leila (Ivy Gorge) - move into a new home for the holidays, they discover a vintage 1980s camcorder, with a box full of old VHS tapes. The cassettes reveal the childhoods of former protagonists Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Brown), while the camera allows the family to literally witness paranormal activity in their new home. 

Things spiral out of control when Leila begins acting strangely and communicating with an unseen, malevolent entity known as Toby. With the help of Ryan’s brother Mike (Dan Gill), the adults try to figure out what is going on. 

The only positives I can give it are the fact that at least the screenwriters tried to revitalise this franchise by including the addition of an older camera that can visualise the “ghost dimension” on film. That said, it is also that change that robs this found footage series of its only strength - the fear of the unseen. By making this dimension visible, the audience now experiences everything - well, sort of (more on that in the cinematography paragraph) - in terrible CGI. Thus, the building of suspense is substituted by cheap jump scares. 

Exposition-heavy scenes are included through video delivery, in the desperate need to progress the already thin narrative. The characters are written poorly, making illogical, dumb decisions. They keep on pointing the camera towards dangerous situations, instead of fleeing and ignore blatantly obvious threats. 

The dialogue is no better. It is repetitive, points out the obvious danger, yet contradicts itself in the actions by the personas. It doesn’t include scepticism, just blind acceptance, as well as bland responses to danger. 

Casting-wise, the best performance came from child actress Ivy George, who fully committed as the possessed child Leila. She gives one the creepiest rendition in the whole movie.

Contrary to that, Chris J. Murray and Brit Shaw are simply fine as Leila’s parents, Ryan and Emily, though they become increasingly more stupid once the plot reaches a paranormal segment.

The rest of the cast is simply used as extensions for verbal exposition. Dan Gill, playing Ryan’s brother Mike, is flat while his character has a clichéd relationship with his brother. 

Cinematographically, the producers and the director try to steer away from the usual lo-fi aesthetic by introducing a high-definition 3D found-footage style. Unfortunately, these two formats often clash. Even worse, for a larger portion of the runtime, audiences are left staring at a dark screen for minutes, thanks to the abysmal lighting. Then there is the CGI, which is of the lowest quality.

The sound design isn’t better. The horror flick relies too much on repetitive loud noises to create predictable jump scares.

Verdict: I am not a particular fan of this franchise; the first one left me cold, two is somewhat entertaining, three is mediocre, four is just bad. The last one is by far the weakest of the series. These flicks rely on cheap cinematography, B-list actors and tacky jump scares, and in my honest opinion, should have died about three movies ago. This one manages to be even worse than the last one, having no reason to be released in 3D. I am tired of these found-footage premises; please end it! Forget about it, don’t even consider it! This is a 2.0 out of 10.

If you are a fan of cheap jump scares, as well as the series overall, you will probably like this one as well. For anyone else, please skip it! Set a sign that we are tired of these lifeless horror scams. If you liked this review, give it a thumbs up. Thank you!