I think I read somewhere on the movie poster that this one is different and that it shows the story from the other side... Well, if it did, then it is not anything special.

I watched all the paranormal activity movies and even a parody. I watched them all not because I really liked them or enjoyed much but because I like horror films and those are rare nowdays - I mean the good ones. so, I was hoping with each one of these that one might be good, but... I mean, they are not bad entirely, but not something special either. I was surprised when the 1st one was voted somewhere as the scariest horror of all time!!!??? Say what?!

This one starts promising, but that is all that is interesting. The little girl is good. Mum is just ... whatever. Dad - well, at least he is kinda sexy so he passes as well as that blond girl ( which, by the way, I did not get why she is even in the house?! - a babysitter?!)

So, Toby is evil, he is in the house for 6 days and the family goes around filming... Yeah,right. That is what bothers me in all of these films. I mean, I know it IS a movie. But if you use hand camera to make a movie look more realistic, please let people do realistic things too. But no ...

All in all, if you don't have anything better to do - go ahead. A few thrills and it is over. 5 from me.

I approached this movie with low expectations due to the negative reviews and the slipshod quality of Paranormal Activity 4. However, I found myself pleasantly surprised to discover that this movie did not suffer from the plodding pace of the first movie or the frustratingly unintelligent characters that were featured in PA2 and PA4 (recall that the father in the second movie had cameras installed but then refused to watch the recorded footage). This entry moves along at a brisk pace and is never boring, and you never have to wait too long for some creepy visuals or a good jump scare (yes, there are jump scares and this will turn some viewers off, but it didn't bother me as I was in the mood to be startled). The character of Mike is somewhat annoying but he's there to serve as comic relief.

Many of the visual effects are subtle and done quite well, such as the particles and shapes captured by the modified "ghost camera," but the use of CGI becomes much too heavy-handed in the latter half of the film. Whereas most of the scares are done very well, a few of the CGI effects seen near the end of the movie are more funny than scary and this is not a good thing; sparser use of computer- generated visuals would have been a wise move, but instead they were VERY liberal with its application here (especially in comparison with the previous entries). Also, without spoiling anything, there are some frustrating problems raised by the plot twists that occur near the end of the film and PA5 ultimately creates more questions than it answers.

Fans who were hoping for a neat and tidy wrap-up to the franchise will be somewhat disappointed with PA5. However, if you accept that these films have had convoluted plots from PA2 onward and you're just in the mood to be scared and entertained, you'll probably enjoy this one. It's a solid popcorn movie for a rainy night.

Just don't puzzle over the continuity of the plot too much... You'll give yourself a migraine.