![]() Oscar tells Jesse that it's only a matter of time before "something inside them" will take over, and they will harm those they love before disappearing. At a party, Jesse takes a girl to Ana's apartment to have sex and encounters Oscar, who scares the girl away, and has black eyes and the same bite mark on his arm. Jesse finds a mysterious bite mark on his arm and discovers he has superhuman abilities such as enhanced strength and levitation. One night, the trio communicates with an unknown entity through a game. The two investigate the apartment where they find black magic items, VHS tapes, and a journal of spells that can "open doorways to unholy places".Īfter Jesse, Hector and their friend Marisol Vargas try out a ritual, paranormal occurrences take place in Jesse's apartment. When Ana is found murdered, Jesse and his best friend Hector Estrella spot classmate Oscar Lopez running from the scene. In the apartment below lives a mysterious woman named Ana Sanchez, who everyone believes to be a witch. In June 2012, 18-year-old high school graduate Jesse Arista lives with his father Cesar, sister Evette, and grandmother Irma in Oxnard, California. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $90 million worldwide. It is also Landon's second directorial film, after Burning Palms. Released on January 3, 2014, in the United States, it is the fifth installment of the Paranormal Activity film series. Those who have sat out on the franchise until now should find this entry partially amusing nonetheless.Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is a 2014 American found footage supernatural horror film written and directed by Christopher Landon. On the surface, there’s a level of fan-service for those who have followed the series since the beginning. Though true frights are few and far between, there’s plenty of fun and just enough scares until the inevitable sequel is released. Notably, the film’s success may open the door for more leading Latino roles and centered stories, something that’s been a long time coming.Ī fun and refreshing take on a stagnant franchise, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is a much needed turning point. ![]() Outside of making everything feel more realistic, those who can understand the language are in for quite a few inventive in-jokes. In an interesting touch, there aren’t any subtitles when characters speak Spanish. Even scenes that could have potentially gone into offensive territory have a context narratively. Much has been made about the film’s targeting of the Latino market and delightfully, nothing feels forced or stereotypical. Thankfully, that sense of quiet dread never decimates. ![]() The cognizant humor mentioned above unfortunately takes away any terror built at times during Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones 84-minute runtime. Those familiar with the series’ scare tactics know exactly what to expect outside of the film’s fairly tense final moments. Most of the film’s comedic charm comes from Jesse’s best friend Hector (given life by Jorge Diaz). There’s a level of self-awareness that just works at times. That means getting the upper hand on a few bully Cholos, uploading YouTube videos of himself floating and hilariously using iconic electronic memory game Simon as a new-age Ouija board. Contrasting series regulars like Katie (who makes a small yet effective cameo appearance), Jesse at first actual relishes his powers before things turn sinister. Retaining the series’ trademark of casting relatively unknowns, Andrew Jacobs portrays Jesse, a recent high-school graduate slowly being possessed by a demonic entity after investigating the death of a downstairs neighbor who also happened to have had a questionable black magic obsession. This setting alone delivers a grounded feeling not truly utilized since the original thanks to Christopher B. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones heaves middle-class suburban homes aside for an apartment in Oxnard, California’s predominantly Latino neighborhood. More of an offshoot than sequel, numerous clever touches sufficiently reinvigorate a series many simply abandoned due to staleness. Missing last year’s Halloween season, the series makes a surprisingly fresh return in Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Like many horror sequels however, quality and creativity suffered with each installment. Subsequent follow-ups became successful enough to go blow-for-blow against then yearly fright-flick champion Saw. Eventually becoming one of the most profitable films ever, it spawned three sequels normally released around Halloween. One of the genre’s biggest beneficiaries post- Blair Witch Project was 2009’s Paranormal Activity. Stylistically, found footage cinematography has almost become as synonymous with contemporary horror as zombies and torture porn.
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