This is interesting, because it directly ties into the Paranormal Activity movies, but it plays quite a bit differently.
Most of the Paranormal Activity movies use a structure that focuses heavily on a single location - usually at least one house, and occasional other areas. This movie has action happening all over a neighborhood, even if it centers in a few locations. The camera is handheld through almost the entire movie, which is a big difference. There’s less time spent building tension, and more time spent on action. I think that’s where the picture has a failing.
The things that I’ve liked about the other movies has been a sense of mystery. We get very gradual clues about what is happening, even if we know that they’re dealing with a demon. The movie functioned almost like a Where’s Waldo image, where we were trained to keep an eye on everything possible to pick up on even the slightest movements and changes. This one downplays that tend in exchange for bigger things jumping in front of the camera. Not something that I hate, just something that doesn’t have as much flavor as the alternative.
The story isn’t too bad. It’s nice that it connects into the rest of the series, and it adds just about the right amount to the overarching story.
The one element that I actually liked a lot was the amount of cultural information we get. I found myself enjoying the community for the most part.
Still, not as fun as the other ones, but useful for mythology purposes.
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