Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Review

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, conspiracy theories, and other similar things. I don’t know why it interests me. I often watch movies like Paranormal Activity, Annabelle, The Exorcist, and others with similar themes. One day in 2010, while browsing the Blockbuster shelves, I spotted Paranormal Activity on Blu-ray for a mere $5. I had wanted to see the movie for some time after hearing about how terrifying it was from numerous people online and in TV commercials. I bought it and went home to watch it later that day, but I felt I had wasted a lot of time. The movie took too long to build up and ultimately failed to deliver a satisfying payoff. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension didn’t offer much in the way of payoff either.

I Kept Coming Back

I wrote off the first film and hoped the second would be better. In all honesty, it was tied with, if not worse than, the first movie, but I was still strangely compelled to see the next film, and the next movie, and the next. Paranormal Activity became more than just a creepy movie; it evolved into an intricate story that spanned several years. The cliffhanger endings and the promises of more information in new trailers kept me returning. I wanted to understand what this demon wanted and why it was tormenting the characters and causing so much havoc. After so many questions, I finally saw a trailer with Jason Blum, one of the movie’s producers, saying that all the questions from the previous movies would be answered in The Ghost Dimension, and I got excited! After waiting since 2010, when I first saw the very first movie, I craved the conclusion to understand the end of the story. If this were to be the final chapter, then why do I still have so many questions?

More of the Same

The truth is that Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension just isn’t all that scary. In the earlier films, there were genuine moments where things happened unexpectedly, and surprises got your attention. I feel that this movie adhered too closely to the tried-and-true formula of the series, lacking sufficient diversity and purpose to make it feel worthy of the film that the series can hang its hat on. The “Night #X” title cards, the cameras panning around the house, the random noises and bangs – it’s all been seen and done (better) before. Even the jump scares were so predictable that no one made a peep in the theatre.

Borrowed Themes

The Ghost Dimension borrowed from a few other movies in somewhat similar ways, at least to me. Sinister was one with the box of VHS tapes that Ryan (Chris J. Murray) watches, in which he sees Katie and Kristi in 1988. It’s not like these tapes are of killings or anything, but it’s the same premise that the demon or the Coven left the tapes there on purpose for this family. Poltergeist is another in which Leila goes through a portal in her wall, whereas in Poltergeist, it is a mirror (or TV in the remake). The whole movie felt like it was borrowing from other movies, even if I couldn’t pinpoint which ones it was borrowing from. It just seemed unoriginal. This isn’t horrible because most movies do the same thing. However, this one just seemed like we’d seen it all before.

Hello, Demon

It was lame to find a camera that could see the demon and anything weird happening, almost like they threw in the towel and said, “Ok, let’s just get this over with and show him.” They didn’t show Toby right away, though. They showed particles and weird black streaks for a good 15 minutes before you saw the form of a face. Then, the rest of the movie saw Toby popping up on the walls, floors, ceilings, and just about everywhere else. The novelty of it wore off very quickly.

In many ways, I genuinely believe that finally seeing Toby (the demon) made this movie so much more unimaginative than the rest of the series. Gone was the unknown; instead, you had a black blob right before you that you knew was the entity, and it wasn’t nearly as scary or unsettling as before. There is a scene where Ryan and his brother Mike (Dan Gill) are hiding behind the cabinets in the kitchen, and Toby is waiting on the other side. Instead of it being an unknown force, they knew exactly what was there, and it just didn’t have the desired effect on the audience because we had already come into contact with him a few times. This brings me to my next point: the characters nearly ruined this movie for me.

Illogical Characters

The characters in this Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension were somewhat one-dimensional and unappealing. Each character had no sense of getting out of the house, staying together, or contacting someone who could help them rid their home of the demon terrorizing it. Nope, they stayed there and went through night after night of traumatic experiences before they finally had the clue to call someone. Even after finding a priest who didn’t return for days, they didn’t look for anyone else or try anything else. It just didn’t make sense after having all kinds of proof that an entity is trying to do something to your child that you wouldn’t do everything in your power to make it stop. Eventually, it reached that point, but it took too long. I will say that I enjoy that throughout this series, they haven’t stuck to a script, given their actors a general direction to go with, and allowed them to ad-lib most of their lines. It makes it feel more genuine, even if you disagree with the direction the movie is going in.

Pointless 3D

The movie was shot in 3D and is easily one of the worst 3D movies I’ve seen. I looked countless times to see if I was missing anything. I put the glasses down, and it was completely clear. The 3D effects were few and far between and not worth the extra price of admission. I would have much rather paid less to see this movie, but 3D was the only option available.

Unanswered Questions

The Ghost Dimension was supposed to answer all the questions, but it left us with more. We never see Toby’s face, never find out what happened to Alex after seeing all those Coven witches in PA4. We also never find out what Toby’s purpose is or what the girls will be used for. There are far more questions than that. It leads me to believe that there will be a new trilogy, or possibly more, focusing on the events after The Ghost Dimension. I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it: Paranormal Activity should have been a two-and-a-half-hour movie with all the filler material taken out. The story would have been very compelling that way. Nothing ever happens for like the first 3 to 4 nights, and it doesn’t build suspense effectively enough. It just puts people to sleep.

Final Thoughts

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension could have been handled a lot better than it was. It answered some questions while posing some more in typical PA style. For the supposed finale of the series, this one left so much more to be desired, and I wish we had gotten a longer movie with more answers rather than an 85-minute lull that focused on yet another child being forced to cater to Toby. Let’s hope they put Paranormal Activity to rest with this one for at least a few years and come back with something that fans can be proud of. If you’re a fan of the series, you must see this to understand what happened. If you’re not a fan, then this is not something you should see. The series has always brought me in to see the next part of the story, but I think it’s good for this series to take a break for a bit.