Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin

Von der Ausstattung her ist es der interessanteste Film der ganzen Reihe. Die Geschichte eines Mädchens, das seine Wurzeln in einer abgeschotteten Amish-Gemeinschaft sucht, ist eine gute Grundlage für Schreckmomente mit einer potenziellen Anwesenheit des Teufels. In dem "Midsommar-Stoff" lädt sie das Publikum zu einem intensiven Erforschen des Inneren einer finsteren Kirche ein, die in der Mitte eines kalten Waldes steht. Auf der anderen Seite arbeitet der Film aber auch mit bekannten POV-Schreckmomenten im Inneren des Hauses aus Paranormal Activity, die eher langweilig sind und außerdem schlampig abgeschlossen wurden. Im Finale fehlen dem Schnitt der POV-Aufnahmen die Zusammenhänge. Er ist so chaotisch, das er eher eine WTF-Verlegenheit als Spannung hervorruft. Das Ende der Geschichte ist aber cool. (29.10.2021)

Paranormal Activity: Found Footage Revival! I'm not a fan of Paranormal Activity or found footage, but I'm very pleased with this one. It's clear that the film will divide audiences into three camps, with two being the disgruntled ones: those who expect more PA and those who love found footage. I welcomed the new direction and made it through the 90 minute horror ride in one breath. The found footage genre had a boom a few years back and has been on the decline for the last few years, which is perhaps a good thing because now it's showing up modernized and in full force, and it works great. By horror standards the film has an attractive plot where we get a glimpse into an Amish community, which makes it incredibly attractive, engaging, disturbing and interesting from the very beginning. Somewhere around the 45 minute-mark some very unpleasant things start to happen, bringing a strong cannonade of intense jump-scares, dark music, a surprisingly decent portion of three twists, I think, and a great half hour finale with a demon that makes you clench your ass and hold your breath even an hour after watching it. I liked the digestible cinematography and the fact that even though, the makers were inspired more by The Blair Witch Project, unlike that film, they had the balls to show something. I was also surprised by the cool slow-mo effects shots and the pretty chaotic carnage in the finale. Some scenes even made me consider a full score. Eubank is definitely a director who can still bring a lot of new things to the genre, and I'm already curious to see what he comes up with next. I want a double feature immediately, Next of Kin is, along with The Deep House, this year's biggest haunted attraction. Story 4/5, Action 3/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 3/5. 8/10. (24.11.2021)

Had they made it like a normal film, and not like f*cking Paranormal Activity, it could have been a decent little sibling to Midsommar and Hereditary, because Eubank is smart enough for that in my opinion, and it’s something that at times shines even through the tired found footage format, which nobody is interested in nowadays. There are no links whatsoever to the original, so even in this respect the PA label seems redundant. I'm actually surprised the producers wanted to resurrect this franchise, and I'm surprised Eubank chose this as his next project after the great Underwater. It's not crap, but I doubt anyone in 2021 will find real pleasure in watching something we've seen many times in the last five years (and often better) in a format that was fashionable a decade ago. (29.10.2021)