I can’t really call it a “milestone,” but Paranormal Octoberty has reached the point where this is the last movie in either franchise–Paranormal Activity and The Exorcist–that I have seen. And I basically remembered nothing about Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, so it’s kind of like watching it again for the first time? And now that I’m blogging about it, I’m sure that it’ll stick in my brain. Yup, I definitely remember watching every movie I’ve talked about on here! Like that Jensen Ackles movie, Devour, where he… uh… was in a dysfunctional relationship with Jared Padalecki from Gilmore Girls? That doesn’t sound right, but I remember it exists and that I watched it!
This is the sixth movie in this franchise so I think we know the gist by now. Family recording everything, activities that could be described as paranormal, blah blah blah. This time it’s a random family who, as we find out later, moved into a house built on the lot where Katie and Kristi’s burned down family home used to be. They have a daughter who was born on the same day as Hunter–June 6, 2005, which is supposed to be 666, ignoring that 2000 technically counts as very end of the 20th century. The Midwives’ new lore is that they apparently have a male leader that Grandma Lois reports to, which kinda ruins the whole “girl power” vibe they had up to this point. They want to take Hunter and this movie’s daughter, What’s Her Name, and use their blood to create a physical body for… Tobi? That’s absolutely NOT how it was spelled in the previous movies (I watch with subtitles because audio mixing is a dying art), but sure, whatever. The titular ghost dimension is a time travel portal… thing? No actual ghosts, but Toby/Tobi does appear as a black goopy monster, making me think of Venom the whole time. In the end What’s Her Name’s family is killed, a single drop of her blood is used while Hunter is only seen on a VHS tape, and Toby/Tobi is given a physical body, becoming a naked dude walking awkwardly. A prince of Hell has been summoned, so I assume the apocalypse has begun and the world is ending.
I know throughout the Paranormal Activity sequels I kept asking, “What is all this for?” Well, now we have our answer! Too bad it doesn’t really fit with the stuff that came before it. Like, why groom Katie and Kristi into a cult and help they grow their psychic powers–including being able to see into the future–only for it to not matter at all? Katie and Kristi one way or another forgot everything that happened to them. Kristi had Hunter and Katie… sure did exist. If it weren’t for the fact that Daniel shunted the evil onto his sister-in-law in Paranormal Activity 2, it should’ve been Kristi who took Hunter and gave him up for adoption only to steal him back years later. And Hunter becoming possessed–along with the stages of possession detailed in Paranormal Activity 4–sure seem like a waste of time if they just needed a drop of his blood like with What’s Her Name. And nothing is made of the army of possessed boys Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones went out of its way to say the cult had. And, like… Grandma Lois used demonic magic to line up Hunter’s birthday with a date she thinks is associated with 666, and then What’s Her Name just… happened to be born that day and was target for… reasons? Almost 400,000 babies are born each day, so why was she tied to Hunter? Because Katie could see her in the future? And that power was mainly used to look creepy for the trailer, so just… whatever, man. Each entry added more lore and Ghost Dimension just decided most of it wasn’t actually important. Hell, they even decided we’ve been spelling Toby/Tobi’s name wrong, and no explanation is given beyond the suggestion he’s a prince of Hell. We’ve gone from “make a deal with a demon to gain wealth” to “literal Hell on Earth in a random guy’s body,” and I just feel exhausted by it all.
So excited for Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin! I’m sure a straight-to-streaming flick that says it’s a reboot is just what this franchises needs to revitalize itself!
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