5. Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones/ Paranormal Activity 5
For the first with hype that you should not see... These films are such a plight on cinema and the production quality of future films, particularly in the horror genre, that I almost despise myself for writing about them. But when involving a list of films that garner hype they do not deserve, the film known for literally doing ABSOULTEY NOTHING on screen to "scare" audiences has to be mentioned. The Found Footage genre has survived in ways that I don't know, apparently finding a niche in certain audiences who don't care how they spend two hours of their precious life, thus only proving to suits that the cheaper something can be made the more they will make, no matter how bad. Even if the original held its own, PA is well pass its prime. At this point the films are being pumped out as if they were on an assembly line and they offer nothing in the realm of story, thrills, or surprises. Now there is a spin-off about "who the heck knows, there is just swinging lamps and floating sheets". Contributing to this franchises popularity only furthers the deep dive that cinema is taking as quality, narrative, and treating your audience as if they are more than infants goes out the window in favor of films made for cheap to be produced mainstream. With little to no essence that can be marketed as entertaining, real filmmakers wallow in sadness as their material is dumped in favor of quick buck with massive profit. The fast food of cinema, Paranormal Activity only has to add a different number, film an audience reacting to their film because others don't know how to, and call it a new film and people will dump gourmet productions in exchange for the drive-thru that is Paranormal Activity.