Blu-ray Review: Found Footage Fails to Save 'Devil’s Due,' 'Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones'

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Average: 5 (4 votes)

CHICAGO – Flooding the market with the shaky cam, the growing use of found footage has had more impact on horror than any other genre. Sometimes it’s used to great effect. But more often than not, such films lack the craft needed to propel viewers into the nightmares. “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” and “Devil’s Due” are cases in point. One fails to take advantage of the solid point-of-view foundation built up by its own franchise. The other only somewhat effectively melds the found-footage technique to a plot involving the birth of the Anti-Christ.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
“Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones”.
Photo credit: Paramount

“Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones”

The film switches locales from the suburbs (where all the other “Paranormal Activity” films have been set) to tell the tale of Jesse (Andrew Jacobs). He’s a young, Hispanic man who has been marked for demonic slavery by witches. But an East Los Angeles setting and a few run-ins with gangbangers aren’t enough to lend street cred to the fifth film in an already tired franchise. Almost completely predictable, “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” is also muddled by special effects that seem borrowed from other better films and a hyperactive finale that time loops itself back to the first two films. It’s confusing, and worst of all, it’s boring at times. You get an unrated and a theatrical version.

Special features:
o Found footage

Devil’s Due
“Devil’s Due”.
Photo credit: Fox

“Devil’s Due”

Newlyweds Zach (Zach Gilford) and Samantha (Allison Miller) have a blast on their honeymoon right up to the last night when they are led by their cabbie to a secret party location. After arriving home, they discover that Stephanie is unexpectedly pregnant. Excited, Zach begins filming more than usual – even after his wife’s behavior takes a decidedly odd turn and her body starts… changing. This found-footage effort is more fun to look at than “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” (especially when it takes advantage of exotic honeymoon locales).

But it counts on the found-footage element too much and fails to bring anything new to a storyline that desperately needs it. As with most found-footage horror films, there is a definite point here where anyone with any brains would have stopped filming. And it can be said that the effects-laden finale is pretty unsettling. One real plus here is the presence of lots of extras – the best of which are the prank horror videos that gave this filmmaking team their start.

Special features:
o Audio commentary with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Chad Villella and Justin Martinez
o Deleted scenes including an extended ending
o “Radio Silence: A Hell of a Team”
o Director’s photo album
o Mountain devil plank fails gone horribly wrong and other prank videos

“Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” was released on Blu-ray on April 8, 2014. “Devil’s Due” was released on Blu-ray on April 29, 2014.

HollywoodChicago.com contributor Dave Canfield

By DAVE CANFIELD
Contributor
HollywoodChicago.com
dave@hollywoodchicago.com

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