‘Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin’ Film Review: Franchise Reboot Plays Like Subpar, Found-Footage ‘Midsommar’

The last act is scary and effective — good luck staying awake to get there

Paranormal Activity Next of Kin
Paramount Pictures

It’s been six years since we last visited the “Paranormal Activity”–verse, but if you were wondering what might happen next in the increasingly weird journey of Toby the Demon — or about the swiftly-forgotten army of supernatural super-soldiers introduced in “The Marked Ones” (which also had time travel!) — you won’t find it in “Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin.”

William Eubank’s film is an apparent reboot of the whole “Paranormal Activity” franchise, with new characters, new mythology and a whole lot of Amish people. It’s got even less to do with its predecessors than did the disappointing “Hellraiser” straight-to-video sequels, which also functioned separately from the original stories but at least shoved a couple of Cenobites onto the screen once in a while.

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