Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)

Let's face it, the Paranormal Activity franchise is one of the worst out there. The whole franchise has been built on the over hyping of one film that led to billions of dollars in revenue and spawned a franchise of even less scary sequels. Now after 4 installments, the franchise has gotten it's first spin-off and it's just as awful as you'd imagine.

If there's anything positive that can be said about the film, it's not as bad as the last installment. This really isn't a positive though considering that the film is still garbage and the fourth installment is one of the laziest films I've ever seen. The Marked One's does add some elements that haven't been seen in the previous films, but they are things that you've seen done a million other times in different films and they aren't even particularity done well here. It's essentially just ripping off much better movies.

The acting here is by far the worst in the whole series and it doesn't help that the writing is as equally atrocious. The profane filled dialouge is embarrassing to the point where you will actually find yourself becoming annoying by the constant use of the F-word, and this is coming from someone who has a pretty filthy vocabulary.

Aside from elements from other films that have been rehashed into this entry, The Marked One's offers nothing you haven't seen in the other installments. It's slowly paced and features the same cheap scares that you've come to expect from the franchise and you've seen more than a dozen horror films, than you've seen everything that this film has to offer.

The worst part of all is that the ending for the film is downright insulting to the viewer. It's evident that the writers were trying hard to tie this one in with the rest of the franchise, but had no clue how to. They try to present to us a so-called "twist" that makes absolutely no sense and is only there so there is some sort of connection the previous films. I won't spoil it, but most of the audience left the screening pretty annoyed.

If you've somehow managed to enjoy this terrible franchise, you might find some enjoyment in The Marked Ones. But if you are a veteran horror viewer, you'll want to look elsewhere because there is nothing here worth wasting time on. Hopefully this franchise will come to an end soon and we can stop having to sit through these awful films every year. The only scary thing about this is that we've got to sit through another installment in October.

Fmovies: If you're a die hard PA fan and this will be a great movie. One of the best.

Good acting, and the twist at the end relative to the first PA was a good surprise

At first, it seemed like the fun might be back in the Paranormal franchise with "The Marked Ones". There's a much needed change of environment, good comic relief and even a few decent horror images. All of this is completely negated by the movie's utter stupidity. While the first film was a worthy cultural phenomenon, the series is becoming a chore. If "The Marked Ones", the first big release of the year, is a sign of things to come, then it is going to be a LONG year. This is the fifth "Paranormal" film, and is more of a spin-off than a sequel. It follows Latino teenagers in California and (SURPRISE) strange things begin to happen to them. This movie is clearly trying to hearken its own previous films while also laying new ground, but fails on both fronts. It tries exorcism horror…and fails. It tries haunted house horror…and fails. It tries mythological horror…and fails. In fact, what made the first films so great was their simplicity; we could place our personal fears within the story. With all of this convoluted, lazy and stupid mythos, all relatability has been thrown out the window. Worst of all, it's clichéd and predictable. That's never good, but especially for a horror film that relies on being surprising. Instead, the creepiness is laughable, and the found footage element has become less of a device and more of a gimmick, too often being boring instead of scary. So while the first few films caused nightmares, this one will just put you to sleep.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones fmovies. The acting is quite good, that is the only reason why I am giving it 4 stars.

I love the first 3 movies they were exciting and fun. The 4th and 5th one don't feel like the same movie. When I watched this I realized I shouldn't have watched it because it makes me appreciate the first three less. This sucks I loved these movies until the 4th and 5th one. The writers are jumping around scraping for a way to draw out a movie concept that was fine the way it was. The main two actors were great though so don't hold it against them. But the movie wasn't scary and had a couple okay moments but all in all not worth your $$. You pretty much wait an hour for the movie to actually get exciting. Maybe there's hope for the next one if they decide to make one but honestly I want to just stick with the first three.

A fun movie. I love how people post how much they "hate" the Paranormal Activity franchise yet they continue to see every new one that comes out.

I enjoyed all of the PAs including the 5th. No they're not ground breaking new material, but they are FUN. I don't go to movies to criticize every little thing. I go to have fun and enjoy myself. Although this one was a little slow to develop in the beginning the last 20 minutes were pretty intense.

If you "hate" all the previous Paranormal Activities then save your money and your hate-filled drivel and stay away. Nobody is forcing you to see it. If you didn't mind the previous PAs and just want to enjoy yourself for 2 hours then go see PA5.

The first PA movie was a surprise hit that made millions out of its miniscule budget which led to several sequels that were both average and disappointing especially the fourth one which was made so lazily that its sole purpose was to make a quick cash-grab.

I expected this to be another average PA film but was surprised to see how well it was made. If you are not a fan of found-footage films which has recently become a huge trend, then obviously this movie will do nothing for you. The typical static camera shots of spontaneous noises and random things moving from the previous movies are gone now which is a good thing since there's only so much they can do with that. It takes place in a new setting with new characters and a lot more humor is added in this time. The protagonists were likable and not annoying and acted competently.

However, the good always comes with the bad but not too many. The film does nothing new or original but it wasn't as big a problem for me since the film was effectively made. Some of the scenes involving Latino gangs were too stereotypical and unnecessary but other than that, the movie didn't have too many flaws.

All I'm going to say without spoiling anything is that the last 20 minutes of the film will truly scare you with a huge twist at the end that will obviously not be explained further until the confirmed PA 5 comes out this October. I really thought this franchise was sealing its fate after the fourth one but The Marked Ones gives fresh opportunities for the filmmakers to indulge in. If you are a fan of the PA films excluding the fourth one and are unsure about whether you want to spend money to see this film, my recommendation is go see it without a doubt. I got my money's worth. :)