See Ghosts in Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Trailer

When describing the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise, adjectives like ‘epic’ and ‘spectacular’ aren’t necessarily the first words that come to mind.

The hugely successful horror series (and indeed, the found footage subgenre it has played a major role in popularising this past decade) is typically personified by being small scale and very low budget, shot and performed in such a way that we might mistake it for genuine home movie footage, with the ghostly goings-on largely implied and very little actually seen.

It may come as quite a surprise, then, to see that ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension’ - the fifth official entry in the series, and reportedly set to be the last - promises, for the first time, to show the audience everything.

In a neat twist, this latest family of haunted house residents find themselves in possession - no pun intended - of an old school camcorder (younger viewers may find it hard to believe that once they really were that massive) with a rather unique feature: a setting which makes ghosts visible.

So this time around, rather than just seeing the physical effects of the frightening phenomena, we will literally be able to see the ghosts themselves. And if that wasn’t enough, ‘Paranormal Activity: the Ghost Dimension’ will also be in 3D.

Such a CGI-riddled stereoscopic supernatural extravaganza seems a very long way from the franchise’s humble beginnings in Oren Peli’s original ‘Paranormal Activity’, made with two people in a house for a reported $15,000 in 2007. That said, word is that a familiar face from the original - series mainstay Katie Featherston - will also return in this final chapter.

Producer Jason Blum confirmed earlier this week that ‘The Ghost Dimension’ will mark the end of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ series, telling USA Today, “We’re not going to grind this horror franchise into the ground. This will keep ‘Paranormal Activity’ as part of this culture and this particular time in a really fantastic way.”

As for new ‘show everything’ approach, Blum explains, “We couldn’t go just teasing. All the questions that everyone has asked from the past ‘Paranormal Activity’ films: What does Toby look like? What’s the backstory to the families? These questions have been teased out. Now they will be answered.”

Of course, no shortage of other horror sequels from years gone by such as ‘The Final Destination,’ ‘Freddy’s Dead’ and ‘Friday the 13th: the Final Chapter’ have declared themselves to be the last entries in their respective franchises, only for further sequels to ultimately emerge.

Shrewdly, Blum doesn’t rule out the possibility of more ‘Paranormal Activity’ somewhere down the line, but stresses, “we made this movie like it’s the end of this ‘Paranormal’ line for sure.”

And based on the trailer above, it doesn’t look like a bad note for the series to go out on at all.

Paramount release ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension’ to UK cinemas just in time for Halloween, on 30 October 2015.

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Picture Credit: Paramount