Film review: Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (15, 84 min)

Made on a shoestring budget by writer-director Oren Peli, the original Paranormal Activity became a global sensation in 2007, scaring the living daylights out of audiences to the tune of 185 million dollars worldwide.

Three prequels and sequels have followed, with Paranormal Activity 5 pencilled in for Halloween 2014.

In the meantime, Christopher Landon writes and directs this bridging chapter which centres on ill-fated teenager Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) and his friends, who attend a party in an apartment block where the downstairs neighbour has perished in suspicious circumstances. The youngsters head to the flat of the deceased, where they discover ephemera usually associated with black magic rituals, and a videotape linked to the original film that provides grim viewing for Jesse.

The young man discovers bite marks on his arm and senses that he is being watched.

As fear and paranoia take hold, Jesse discovers that he has been chosen to fulfil a grim destiny that tips the balance of power in favour of the forces of evil.