The “Paranormal Activity” saga tries to start from scratch with its seventh opus, “Next of Kin”. A found footage that offers an immersion in the heart of a disturbing and isolated community in which a young heroine arrives, in search of answers about her troubled past…
Paranormal Activity – Next of Kin: a new curse
In 2009, just ten years after The Blair Witch Project and while the found footage is experiencing a new wave of popularity thanks in particular to CloverfieldOren Peli signs Paranormal Activity. Shot for a ridiculous budget of 15,000 dollars, the feature film stands out as one of the most profitable in the history of cinema raising more than $193 million in worldwide revenue.
The concept couldn’t be simpler. Convinced that their home is haunted by a spirit, a couple installs cameras in every room of their house. As the nights go by, the phenomena intensify and the family understands that they are the victim of a terrible curse. Faced with the success of this first opus, producers Jason Blum and Oren Peli have continued to exploit the demonic potential of Katie and Kristi, two sisters who have experienced terrifying events in their childhood and who have continued to pursue them.
The seventh installment in the franchise, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin intends to breathe new life into it, since Katie’s family and the demon Tobi are no longer part of the plot, including in a secondary setting. The film focuses on the fate of Margot (Emily Bader), a young woman abandoned by her mother at birth. Wishing to shoot a documentary about her past and the Amish community in which she was born, she goes to a farm after making contact with Samuel, a relative. In this icy place cut off from the world where she no longer has any means of transport, Margot, accompanied by Chris (Roland Buck III) and Dale (Dan Lippert), is in turn witness to disturbing incidents.
A run-down franchise?
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, therefore, attempts renewal through its unpublished story focused on a community with many secrets and prohibitions, which refuses to reveal its true intentions. Signed Christopher Landon (Happy Birthday, Freaky), in charge of writing the saga since the second part, the scenario promises an immersion in the heart of a terrifying place where occult rituals are practiced. He recalls in this The Blair Witch Project, kill list, or even the joyful The ritual.
But unlike its predecessors, William Eubank’s film (underwater) never takes advantage of his frame nor does it reveal the dreaded creature, preferring a skeletal body that immediately evokes that of RECless frightening.
In its introduction, the feature film also presents characters gifted for realization, which gives hope for more original horrific sequences than the static moments of the first opuses of the saga. There too, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, unfortunately, does not keep its promises.
The film falls into the same through that many of found foot multiplying the jump scare playing on predictable appearances following twirling camera movements. In the genre, it is better to fall back on The Visit by M. Night Shyamalan, who managed to develop emotional springs by exploiting the suffering of his two young heroes and confronting them with two particularly creepy characters.
Despite its alleged intentions, the feature film does not offer anything new. There remains, however, a final scene of a massacre more inspired and readable, but unfortunately too short.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin which could be entitled to a sequel because of its open end, is to discover on SCO.
