5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 2.3 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.4 |
Using a special camera that can see spirits, a family must protect their daughter from an evil entity with a sinister plan.
Starring: Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George, Dan Gill, Olivia Taylor DudleyHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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."
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'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 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:
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.
2014
Unrated Director's Cut
2012
Unrated Director's Cut
2011
Unrated Director's Cut
2010
2021
2013
Theatrical + Unrated Alternate Cut
2007
2017
1988
2015
2013
2014
2016
Extended Cut
2015
Limited Edition Rerelease
1963
2019
2018
2016
2012
2011