If you’re like me and you’re a genuine fan of the Paranormal Activity series, the new trailer for the latest film comes with some disappointing news. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension will be the last film in the franchise, according to the trailer release and an interview producer Jason Blum gave USA Today earlier this week.
Blum, whose production company Blumhouse has overseen the entire horror franchise, told USA Today that he wasn’t going to “grind [it] into the ground” the way Kristi ground her sister’s photo into ashes while passing her a terrible demonic curse, presumably because that would be bad. Then again, having been treated to Katie Featherston creeping around and being evil for five films now, we can’t say that we see the downside.
However, there is plenty of good news for fans who’ve been waiting forever to get answers to all-important questions like: Does their grandma just keep a herd of witches in her backyard? Where the heck is Kristi’s stepdaughter? Why did Katie/Toby give Hunter to his new family if she was just going to squat next door waiting to steal him back anyway? Are there supernatural portals just sitting around Los Angeles that all lead back to Katie’s suburban kitchen? Even shadowed by a horrifying demonic entity, why would anyone ever date Micah?
None of these questions are answered in the latest trailer, which appears to be focusing on a new family unlucky enough to move into Katie and Kristi’s childhood home. But we do get more of the thing the series does best—terrifying children.
If you’re among the many fans who praised Paranormal Activity 3, the film which introduces us to Katie’s family and the sinister demon “Toby,” there’s plenty of evidence here that we’re finally going to be getting more info about this part of the franchise’s mythology. Though this trailer is definitely low on scares compared to earlier parts of the series, we’ll show up just to finally see Toby (shudder) and glean more insights from that terrifying collection of home videos.
And who knows? Even if the series ends after this film, there’s nothing to prevent other spinoffs and expansions of the concept.
We’d sign up for a TV series called On the Road With Toby and Katie, for example, or Eight (demon-possessed children) Are Enough.
Make it happen, guys.
Screengrab via Paranormal Activity/YouTube