Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Blu-ray Movie Review

The final frontier, key word being "final."

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 14, 2016

In the world of Paranormal Activity, cameras seem like the single biggest culprit in riling up various demons, possessions, spiritual oddities, and other random bugaboos and bumps in the night. The camera is key in every one of these movies: overly obsessive people who cannot live without pointing a camera at something, or without a camera shoved in their face, go merrily about their lives until, oops, all hell breaks loose. Sure it starts out innocently enough: a peculiar shape in the camera, a strange sound in the background, a weird occurrence here, a sleepwalker there, and then BOOM! Death and mayhem! Demons everywhere! But maybe, just maybe, these sweet, innocent little demons just don't like being filmed? Perhaps they're camera shy? Ever think of that people? The easy solution to all of this seems to be...to turn off the camera. TURN IT OFF! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN CINEMA, TURN IT OFF! Fortunately, it appears the cameras are indeed going silent, as Producer Jason Blum confirmed that Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension would be the last. Finally. After six films and astronomical box office returns versus budget investment, the series has been an absolute beast for Paramount, and even as numbers have dwindled this latest film still pulled in a healthy return. But credit the filmmakers for saying "enough is enough" and promising to keep the series as relevant as possible after six films and refusing to dilute it any further -- or anger any more demons -- in the name of another healthy return on investment.

"Tell me about Toby. In 2D."

Ryan (Chris J. Murray), his wife Emily (Brit Shaw), and their daughter Leila (Ivy George) live in an attractively large California house. They're decorating for Christmas 2013 when Ryan's brother Mike (Dan Gill), who was recently dumped by his girlfriend, arrives for an extended stay. Also staying with the family is Skyler (Olivia Taylor Dudley). While putting up decorations, presumably left behind by the previous owners, Ryan and Mike discover an old video camera and a box full of cassettes. The camera picks up strange, otherwise invisible occurrences in the house. The videos show two girls, Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown), describing...Ryan and Mike watching them. As events unfold, it becomes clear that Leila is somehow in communication with them and has befriended a mysterious entity she calls "Toby."

Within the cluttered confines of Paranormal Activity's universe, there's not a lot of room for structural ingenuity, and The Ghost Dimension certainly doesn't try anything new. If nothing else, order does come from the series' chaos by way of its staunch adherence to formula. The Ghost Dimension still offers the same basic point-and-shoot home video structure and is home to the same basic dramatic machinations, this time with a new family that finds itself connected, in an admittedly interesting fashion, with characters from Paranormal Activity 3. The film cleverly bridges the gap from that film to this, but its best qualities pretty much begin and end with the mechanics of how it works. Beyond the camera and videocassettes, the movie feels empty, repetitive, lacking legitimate scares or moody atmosphere, neither of which, admittedly, have been amongst the series' strengths but that feel grossly played down in this sequel. In practically every way the movie feels forced, churned out with enough creative muscle to tie up a few loose ends and answer a few lingering questions but without much care for anything beyond.

The Ghost Dimension is home to another roster of generic characters with precious little development and, perhaps even worse, no reason to even develop them. Ryan is...a game programer? His brother Mike has just lost his girlfriend, and...? Skyler is in the movie because...? It's the most jumbled roster in the series, and above everything else in the movie, the chief reason why it feels like such a monumental, manufactured failure from frame one. The film seems content to simply churn out another feature that crudely answers a few questions rather than smartly or cleverly expand the lore or even tell a story with enough character investment to make the audience care or, at the very least, forget that the peripherals are practically identical to the rest of the franchise. The film does offer a few decent visual effects here and there, the best of which is given away on the poster art and home video boxes, but sadly that, too, is left as nothing more than a tease, a glimpse of what lies beyond rather than an invitation for a journey into it.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension's 1080p transfer comes comprised of, primarily, two sources, one an antiquated "ghost hunting" modified camera from the 1980s and a more streamlined consumer level recorder from the "present day" (circa 2013). The former is prone to reveal scan lines, jagged edges, and other issues. Definition and clarity are severely reduced here, too. Color range is limited and details aren't particularly robust. The newer photography reveals a significantly cleaner, sharper, and more naturally colorful image, though noisy in lower light. Though finer details -- needles on a Christmas tree, for example -- still don't dazzle, the greater stability in definition offers a more satisfying image. Night vision shots fill much of the finale, tinted heavily green and picking up fair surrounding detail. It's a par-for-the-course transfer for the series.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is, like the video, a tale of two styles. Generally, the audio remains focused straight up the middle, with dialogue and crunchy sounds of the camera maneuvering about the only real sonic details to be heard. Things open up considerably at the end, when an onslaught of somewhat mushy but aggressive sounds spill through every speaker, surrounds included. A few random shots provide a bit of juice as various things go bump by zipping across the stage or causing some bass-heavy thud. None of it is particularly arousing from a sonic perspective, but again, and like the video, it falls in-line with what's typical for the Paranormal Activity franchise's Blu-ray releases.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension contains only "Lost Footage" (1080p): Burying the Crown (0:55), Kristi Is Special (0:45), Knock Knock (1:40), Bloody Mary (0:50), Emily Finds the Crown (2:01), Something in the Christmas Tree (3:13), Mike's Room (3:32), Leila in 1992 (0:55), and Santa's Here (6:12). The package also features a DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy.

Also note the three different versions of the film available on the disc:

• Theatrical Version: 1:28:03 total runtime.
• Extended Version: 1:37:22 total runtime.
• Extended Version with Alternate Ending: 1:35:09 total runtime.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's time to say goodbye to Paranormal Activity, a franchise that, since its creative first entry that, for better or for worse, ushered in the era of quickly produced "found footage" films, has been increasingly grasping at straws to extend lore and plow more entries into theaters. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is easily the worst of a fairly sour bunch, a movie that's totally devoid of characters worth caring about -- largely because they receive zero development -- and a story that's interesting in its mechanics but flounders in delivery. One can only wonder, with both Saw and Paranormal Activity now on the shelf, what the new (mostly) annual Horror franchise will be? Paramount's Blu-ray release of Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension yields technical qualities on par with other entries in the franchise. Likewise, supplements are severely limited, as they always have been. Franchise fans may as well pick it up, but general audiences are advised to move on to something else.