Film: Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

The first Paranormal Activity (2009!) was made with a budget of $11,000, and was instantly a cult hit as well as achiving a certain level of success at the box office. As the franchise as progressed, the budgets have increased and, perhaps unsurprisingly in a cynical world, the effectiveness of the concept has decreased.

The genius of the films is of course the implied horror - the door closing by itself, a creaking off camera, and the various witnessing of other things we weren't meant to see. But with budget comes a need to make this more explicit - instead of allowing our imaginations to run riot we're spoon fed the scares. Eventually you're left with a more regular ghost story, albeit one shot from the peculiar viewpoint of a character operated camera.

Such is the case with this, the sixth (and allegedly final) chapter in the Paranormal Activity series. That's not to say that it was a bad film; on the contrary I really enjoyed it and was caught squealing in terror more than once. It just was on the same trajectory as the previous sequels were on and so disappointed.

But still, if you're looking for a bit of a scare you can't go wrong with this and in that context it earns a recommendation anyway.