Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
Certified: 15
Duration: 88 minutes
Directed by: Gregory Plotkin
Starring: Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Dan Gill, Ivy George, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michael Krawic, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Hallie Foote, Mark Steger
KRS Releasing Ltd

The discovery of an old video camera soon sets things rolling in the wrong direction for a family settling into their new home. Ryan and Emily (Chris J. Murray and Brit Shaw) are two young parents moving to Santa Rosa, California. With them is the third component of their family, their eight-year-old daughter Leila (Ivy George).

With the Christmas holidays on the way, the family invite to their home Mike (Dan Gill), who is Ryan’s brother who has just ended a relationship, and Skyler (Olivia Taylor Dudley), who is Emily’s sister and a yoga instructor.

They start to realise that maybe they are not alone in the house. From the video camera that they find left there by the previous property owners, they discover that the lens of the camera distorts what they are seeing.

Besides the camera they find old video tapes and discover the story of the previous family and the two girls who lived there before. They see how the girls were taken over by the cult mother and the parents get lost from the picture.

Originally developed as an independent movie, Paranormal Activity (2007) gained huge success. The film earned nearly $108 million at the US box office, leading to the development of the series.

Following all this, Leila herself starts to change and adopts an attitude that she previously did not exhibit. That is not the only thing as the camera starts capturing a paranormal creature shadowing their daughter. That is when Father Todd (Michael Krawic) is called in, but they are not sure if they are in time to save their daughter.

The ultra-low budget but ultra-lucrative franchise Paranormal Activity comes to a close with this final instalment. The first movie was the peak of the series, but fans returned to view the sequels which for the most delivered mystery and chills, even though the novelty (as is to be expected with all sequels) has since worn off.

This sixth film capitalises on elements found in Paranormal Activity 3, which will keep the franchise’s fans glued to every chilling and fear-inducing frame.

Gregory Plotkin takes the Paranormal Activity movie and uses it in bludgeon mode in order to scare the pants off his audience. He concentrates on the use of jump scares, capitalising on every shadow, music change and suspicious movement. This sixth instalment is all about things that go bump in the night.

The Ghost Dimension does not try to pave new ground as its audience knows what it wants. It’s that creepy feeling when you are all alone at home and it’s dark and you feel that maybe, just maybe, you are not alone.

The Ghost Dimension does not attempt to tie up or answer all the loose ends that the franchise has elicited. It does, however, reveal to us who is the demonic culprit behind all this activity, with some of the most over-the-top special effects of the franchise so far.

In its own manner, The Ghost Dimension is a fitting end to the franchise which had become a staple for Halloween spookiness.