Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD
Plot: A young woman named Margot sets out to discover the truth behind her mother’s decision to abandon her at birth with sinister results.
Review: The found-footage franchise Paranormal Activity has always been a bit of a hit or miss for me (I am not a fan of this particular horror sub-genre). Next of Kin tries to bring the franchise back to its roots by weaving a dark and disturbing secret hidden within a family’s bloodline. So far, the films are based on families that make a pact with a demon called “Asmodeus” aka “Tobi” only for future generations to become haunted by the demon seeking to stake his claim on their souls.
As the seventh film, Next of Kin was meant to be a stand-alone sequel. The premise begins interestingly enough with the main protagonist Margot (Emily Bader) being contacted by a blood relative, Samuel Belier (Henry Ayres-Brown), via a social media platform. Having been abandoned at birth by her mother, Margot’s only memento is the surveillance camera footage of her mother leaving her on the doorsteps of a hospital. Samuel promises to introduce her to the rest of her living relatives but there’s a catch—they are supposedly practicing Amish. Margot decides to create a documentary of the search for answers and her mother with the help of friend Chris (Roland Buck III) and a freakishly tall sound guy named Dale (Dan Lippert). Once they get to the family farm, things begin to get increasingly weird.
One of my main issues with the Paranormal Activity franchise is that you have to wait for such an incredibly long time before you see anything remotely paranormal occur. By then, you are all waited out and not impressed by the time things start to go bump in the night! This problem resurfaces here once again, and I doubt the audience will be impressed by the results. The final product is an uneventful, unimpressive film with some mildly terrifying sequences within the last few minutes of the film. The ending was also a chaotic mess with a clumsily executed sequel setup.
Maybe they were hoping to reboot the franchise by either dealing with the fallout of Next of Kin or the origins of Tobi the demon. Honestly, this latest installment just proves that the franchise has finally run its course in the horror circuit. Final thoughts—please don’t waste your money on a movie ticket for this one. Trust me that it adds nothing to the franchise, and it needs to be laid to rest permanently.
Alice’s Score: 3 out of 10
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Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. Read More