With Halloween fast approaching, it is only appropriate that I review two horror movies that are currently in theaters. I will be reviewing "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" which is allegedly the final movie in the franchise. I will also be reviewing "Crimson Peak" which is a ghost story written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro who brought us "Pans Labyrinth." Before I get started, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Free Gamer's Alliance YouTube channel. Their videos cover everything from walkthroughs, glitches, easter eggs, and various amusing video game related content, all of which is delivered with some colorful commentary while they have buckets of fun doing it. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FreeGamersAlliance/
Let us get started with "Crimson Peak." For those of you unfamiliar with this one here is the tralier:
- The special effects are great. This is especially impressive considering how modest the budget was for a movie like this.
- The first two thirds of the movie are really suspenseful and will keep you on the edge of your seat.
- The soundtrack is easily one of the best this year
- Jessica Chastain absolutely steals the show here. She is clearly having fun with this role and is absolutely the star of this movie.
- The protagonist of this movie played by Mia Wasikowska is so ridiculously bland that it is hard to really become invested in her. This is in no way Wasikowska's fault. Her character is written with the dimension of the female characters in the "Transformers" franchise.
- The entire third act of the movie takes a gigantic dive off a cliff. The movie does so well at being suspenseful and the last act, for some reason, turns so over the top that it is legitimately hilarious. I actually had to step out of the theater for a few minutes as I was laughing so hard that if I were to stay there I would have become a massive disturbance to the audience.
"Crimson Peak" has a lot of promise throughout the movie but unfortunately ends up getting completely derailed in the third act. I would say this movie is ok but due to the disappointing payoff, I wouldn't recommend seeing it in theaters. I would say that it would make a decent rental.
Lets move on to "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension." Here is the trailer:
- As usual, the actors/actresses feel very natural and provide some genuinely funny moments.
- The use of 3D is very obnoxious. Bad effects fly at your face and I know they are trying to get scares but all I got was a headache. Also, the entire first part of the movie seems to alter the plot so the movie can have what I call "look, this is in 3D" moments.
- As I mentioned above, the visual effects look really cheap.
- The jump scares are so predictable.
- The trailer promises to reveal every secret and tie up every loose end of the franchise. They do this (sort of) but they do a really half-assed job of it. The writers seem to believe that mentioning things in passing count as tying up loose ends.
- Finally, there is no other way to say this other than the ending is really stupid. As a result, the franchise "ends" with a whimper rather than a bang.
"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" is so lazy, cheap, rushed, and sloppy that it ends up being the quality of a direct to DVD movie. It is by far the worst movie in the franchise which is really saying something. Don't bother seeing this in theaters.
Thanks for reading everyone! As usual, feel free to leave a comment but please be advised that if you are going to read any potential comments that spoilers may be present.