What Could Make Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones Better

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones was an unnecessary sequel/prequel to the self-destructing Paranormal Activity franchise. Bad acting, shaky cameras, and crummy dialogue go hand in hand with the franchise, but this film couldn't make up for it's lack of effort. What could have made this film better, if anything?

1.   Don't exclude or try to forcefully include an ethnic group.

Was the whole marketing towards the Hispanics necessary? You'd be thinking that the film would include more Hispanic culture. Instead, we received a lot of Spanish cussing and Mariachi music. The marketing towards the Hispanic audience was undeniably noticeable, but the film barely gave any hint of culture. It was the run-of-the-mill horror film with Hispanic stereotypes.

Get rid of this entirely. These films should not be focusing on one ethnicity. 

2.    Expand the mythology.

This film tried expanding the mythology, but it was all lost in the camera work and the bad scares. It would have been nice to receive a clear cut explanation of everything going on, or no mythology at all. The first Paranormal Activity was a stand alone film that had no exact mythology. There was a back story between Katie Featherston, her family, and the demon that controlled her, but nothing more was ever imagined at that point. After the third film, Oren Peli and Co. finally decided to build the mythology. However, the creators took too long. The third film and fourth film should have pushed with the mythology of the series. This film should have been the next installment to focus on the mythology. 

3.   Try a new filming direction.

Believe it or not, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones did go in a new filming direction . . . a bit. This film is full on shaky cam, found footage style. All the other Paranormal Activity films had the camera in one fixed position. Did this filming technique work for the film? No, because they didn't use it to their full advantage. The Paranormal franchise has beat the found footage technique into the ground. That's where it should be. Bring in an experienced film crew to shoot the film. How interesting would it be if the next Paranormal film was shot with a full film crew? I would be impressed and I'd probably watch it with a fresh mind on where the franchise is heading. At the moment, these films are getting very old, very fast with the found footage style slowly deteriorating.

If you liked this article, follow us or like us on Facebook at Critic & The Fan.