I ain’t afraid of this ghost.

I haven’t actually watched any of the previous “Paranormal Activity” films, and am mostly familiar with them through spoofs of their initially ground-breaking approach to ‘found footage’ films. It turns out this was actually adequate preparation for the sixth instalment in the franchise as, for the first thirty minutes or so I thought I might actually be watching a spoof, albeit a bad one.

When the Fleege family dad Ryan (Chris J Murray), mum Emily (Brit Shaw) and young daughter Evie (Ivy George) move into their new home, they’re all set for a wonderful family Christmas. They are joined by Emily’s friend Skylar (Olivia Taylor Dudley) and Ryan’s brother Mike (Dan Gill) for the holidays. When they find a box of video cassettes and a specially modified video camera which can apparently capture images of otherwise invisible spectral activity, they…ugh, you know what, I can’t even pretend to be on board with this nonsense. There is no way that sentence shouldn’t end with ‘immediately leave and never return’.

Found footage films live or die by one factor alone: how credible is it for the characters to constantly be filming/ on camera? “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” fails this test repeatedly – with flying colours. Numerous times when their daughter is in apparent danger, both parents are more concerned with ‘getting the shot’ or grabbing the camera than saving her. Paranormal activity is no excuse for sub-normal parenting.

At its core, there is a reasonably interesting idea as Toby the demon’s master plan over the course of the whole six film series is revealed to be a sort of trans-temporal blood ritual designed to render him flesh incarnate but the story’s buried under all the stupid shenanigans of the Fleeges. Nobody seems particularly bothered by the weird goings-on, even after Ryan manages to capture incontrovertible filmed evidence that something spooky and malevolent is going on. Despite the possession incidents mostly happening at night, everyone behaves normally – they all go to bed in their separate bedrooms, nobody seems to have any trouble sleeping and nobody keeps a close eye on Emily or, you know, moves her out of her bedroom where most of the weird stuff is happening. Even when they eventually call a priest, he pops in for five minutes, disappears for nearly the rest of the movie only to return for a hectic but uninspired finale which is accompanied by some really shoddy 3D CGI.

Apparently, it took four people to write the script for “The Ghost Dimension”, which is quite an achievement when you only need a couple of fingers to cut and paste the phrase, ‘What the fuck?’ over and over again. My favourite part was a weird kind of homage to the raptors in the kitchen scene from “Jurassic Park” which is so idiotic, it’s genuinely hilarious.

Limp, lifeless and at times laugh-out-loud unfrightening, this would-be chiller is lukewarm at best.

paranormal activity the ghost dimension review
Score1/10


Hi there! If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to get new posts sent straight to your inbox?

Sign up to receive a weekly digest of The Craggus' latest posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

logo

Related posts

Brian And Charles (2022) Review

Brian And Charles (2022) Review

You'll never look at your washing machine the same way again With Brian and Charles, director Jim Archer and co-writers/ stars David Earl and Chris Hayward craft a delightful oddball bromance that stands as a testament to the beauty of simplicity and imagination. Imagine, if you...

The Hustle (2019) Review

The Hustle (2019) Review

The Hustle delivers pure comedy iron pyrite. Have you seen DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS? If you have, then you’ve pretty much seen THE HUSTLE, a good-natured, luxuriously indulgent but unnecessarily faithful remake of the well-liked Steve Martin/ Michael Caine remake of 1964’s BEDTIME...

The Entity (1982) Review

The Entity (1982) Review

Seeing isn't believing in The Entity. The Entity may be by the same director who would go on to inflict Superman IV: The Quest for Peace on us, but don’t let that fool you—Sidney J Furie’s 1982 movie is a harrowing, unsettling horror film that transcends its early '80s trappings...

Troll (1986) Review

Troll (1986) Review

J K Rowling has got some 'splainin' to do as Troll brings us the original Harry Potter and the cursed child… Starring Atreyu himself, Noah Hathaway, “Troll” is perhaps less a straight horror movie than it is a dark fantasy. If there’s such a thing as adorable terror, “Troll” manages to...

Premium Rush (2012) Review

Premium Rush (2012) Review

Premium Rush is an action thriller about bicycle couriers that really delivers It’s a bit of a tough sell: a thriller about a bicycle courier being chased through New York by guys in cars with guns but “Premium Rush” manages to pull it off thanks to a winning, high energy lead...

Dom Hemingway (2013) Review

Dom Hemingway (2013) Review

I wanted a better f**king present than this. "Dom Hemingway" is a film which struggles to live up to the promise of its blisteringly funny, aggressive and chaotic trailer. It suggests a cracking, foul-mouthed crime caper with Jude Law having an absolute blast as crazy, charismatic...

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014) Review

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014) Review

Get hooked on a multitude of feelings Do you remember when summer SciFi blockbusters were unashamedly fun? Do you remember how you felt watching “Return Of The Jedi”? Before you got all old and cynical and ironic. Before your “Star Wars” heart was hardened by special edition...

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Review

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Review

Family and feelings power up the frenetic and fun Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 The weight of expectation resting on the follow-up to 2014’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy” is a testament to just how spectacularly Marvel’s big gamble paid off. But like “Avengers Assemble” before it, the...