By Staci Wilson Wilson
@StaciWilson

Looking for a good horror movie to watch this Halloween? Check out Crimson Peak. Looking for any old horror movie? Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension has a few jump scares and a couple of creepy moments.

What began in 2009 as a simple, spooky story about a house haunted by demonic forces in Oren Peli’s first Paranormal Activity movie (cost to make: $15,000) grew into not only a massively profitable franchise (earning over $193-million worldwide) spawning four follow-ups, but a pop-cultural phenomenon. As is usually the case in series films, the returns have diminished with each new entry (though I, personally, quite enjoyed their stab at comedy with The Marked Ones, out this time last year).

The Ghost Dimension follows a cardboard cutout family – dad, mom, young daughter, and visiting uncle – during the first Christmas in their new home. The two-story structure just happened to be built over the burnt remains of the first Paranormal house, but they don’t realize anything’s amiss until a cardboard box containing a bulky old video-camera and scads of VHS tapes dating back to the 80s and 90s mysteriously turns up. As they watch the children in the tapes, their own little girl begins to act very, very strange. Also, as it turns out, the video-camera still works… and it still records. Malevolent ghostly images appear, and the jump-scares begin (in 3D, no less).

For diehard fans of Paranormal Activity, this so-called “final installment” addresses the complex mythology and wraps up the mystery (however, they may be disappointed main-gal Katie is only mentioned in passing). For folks simply in search of a few scares, The Ghost Dimension stands alone, even while it struggles to copy-cat other horror flicks like The Exorcist and Poltergeist.

Rated R
1 hour 24 minutes

Get times and tickets at Fandango.com

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – THE GHOST DIMENSION Review