Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
age 16+
Plenty of violence in fifth installment of horror series.
- Review Date: January 3, 2014
- Rated: R
- Genre: Horror
- Release Year: 2014
- Running Time: 84 minutes
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones gallery
What parents need to know
Positive role models
Violence
Sex
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the fifth in the successful, found-footage horror series. Violence includes only a little blood, but characters fire guns and we see some dead bodies, plus some fighting, a car crash, a tormented dog, and some scary, ghostly images. Some full-frontal female nudity is shown, and a sex act nearly happens, but is interrupted. Language is very strong, with near-constant use of "f--k" and "s--t." Teens smoke pot, there's some very brief drinking, and alcohol seems readily available in this world. After the drop in quality and enthusiasm after Paranormal Activity 4, it's not likely that teens will hold a sustained interested in this sequel.
User reviews
Parents say
Kids say
What's the story?
Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) is a normal, happy kid in Oxnard, California. He gives a speech at his high school graduation, and his family and friends, Hector (Jorge Diaz) -- who films everything -- and Marisol (Gabrielle Walsh), throw him a party at their apartment complex. Soon the friends become curious about the strange noises coming from their neighbor Anna's apartment. When it appears that a schoolmate has killed Anna, they begin poking around the apartment, finding curious articles of witchcraft. Soon after, Jesse begins to exhibit strange behavior. At first he seems to have superpowers, but before long he becomes withdrawn and even violent. Can Hector and Marisol solve the mystery of Jesse's behavior before it's too late?
Is it any good?
QUALITY
A writer on the series since Paranormal Activity 2, Christopher Landon directed this fifth entry. His best innovation is to set the entire story within a vivid Latino community, complete with young people, old people, good people, and bad people. It's a refreshing angle, and for a while, before the supernatural stuff starts, the movie is fairly compelling. But unfortunately, as it goes on and turns more horrific, it also turns exceedingly stale.
There are some small cameos and references to the earlier films, but the major problem is that, unlike parts 1-3, there's absolutely no reason for characters to continue filming while all this stuff is happening. Moreover, while the witches seem to have power to do almost anything, they just can't stop the camera. Aside from that, the scares are overly familiar, properly-timed jumps and shocks borrowed from the earlier films and other "found footage" movies. Fans of this series or horror films in general won't find much to scream about here.
Families can talk about...
How did you feel about teens having access to pot and alcohol throughout the movie? Did the consequences for drug and alcohol use seem realistic?
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | January 3, 2014 |
| DVD release date: | April 8, 2014 |
| Cast: | Andrew Jacobs, Gabrielle Walsh, Jorge Diaz |
| Director: | Christopher Landon |
| Studio: | Paramount Pictures |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Run time: | 84 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | pervasive language, some violence, graphic nudity and some drug use |
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It's okay, and I think that they know that that's as far as it can go.
When I first heard of this, I was naturally apprehensive. The trailers looked generic, the acting looked awful, and its delayed October-to-January release date pretty much solidified my cynicism. However, this is fine. The new characters and relocation are a nice breath of fresh air and the acting is fine since everyone's just playing a regular person. The humor works well; I actually found myself laughing a decent amount since it has a naturalistic charm about the whole thing. It's 84 minutes long but doesn't necessarily feel too short or like it's trying to reach a feature-length running time. The story does its job and is reasonably interesting, particularly the ending and how it ties in with the rest of the franchise. The biggest issue, however, is that the humor works but it's not scary, really at all, and when it appears to try, it relies on clichés. There's one jump scare that works but that's it. However, I don't really think that it's even trying to be scary anymore. I think they know that this series is a yearly tradition for its core audience so its style and mythology makes it somewhat endearing for annual casual viewings. This is a tepid and modest achievement: nothing quite new, but with enough entertainment value to be respectable. For a January 3 release, this is far past a tepid achievement. 6.7/10, fine, one thumb up, average (or above average given its genre and release date), etc.
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
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WHY WERE AUDIENCES DISAPPOINTING?!
That's because it seems that it might be boring... but it might be fine.
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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Disappointing Activity
I was very disappointed because I love the whole PA series. It seems like they just through in female nudity and innuendo which made it just stupid. Seriously was not scary. I mean I'm fine with some uplifting moments so the audience can take a little break from the scariness, but there were too many moments like that. I was trying to figure if this was really a horror or drama!!
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Was this review useful?
