Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection (Blu-ray Review)

Please Note: Paramount Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

What began with ‘Paranormal Activity’, the independent found footage horror film that could soon exploded into a full-blown horror franchise that continued and expanded upon the fairly simple, yet perfectly crafted tale that started it all. Followed by six additional films over the years, the original tale of a young couple trying to figure out the mysterious occurrences happening within their home continued with multiple prequels and sequels that saw these strange events evolve into a terrifying plot involving a witch covenant, generations of a family and much more over the years. Now, every film in the series comes home on Blu-ray in one noteworthy box set for the first time ever with ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection’ for fans to revisit whenever they might desire as well as introduce a new generation to the terror within.

‘Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection’ features all seven films in the franchise (Paranormal Activity, Paranormal Activity 2, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 4, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension and Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin) as well as the feature length Documentary ‘Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity’ which features an in-depth look at the creation of the series and the unexpected popularity of the original which led to the expansion of a multi-film franchise over the years following its release.

The included discs for the first six films in the series which all had independent releases over the years seem to be identical to those previous releases (and each include both Theatrical and Unrated/Extended cuts of the film, while The Ghost Dimension also includes the 3D edition for the Theatrical Cut of the movie) aside from reversible artwork to make for a clever shelf display when all combined in the box. The discs for ‘Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin’ and ‘Unknown Dimension’ on the other hand are new (and exclusive) to this collection and at least as of this writing are not currently available individually which make them the real standouts here. It will be up to each individual whether they can personally justify a purchase of the box set for those who already own the individual releases of the earlier films.

Overall, Paramount Home Entertainment’s 9-disc Limited Edition Blu-ray box set of ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection’ brings home every chilling entry in the found footage horror franchise on Blu-ray in one great new collector’s set for the dedicated fan. Including all of the theatrical installments as well as the recently released ‘Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin’ and the feature length documentary ‘Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity’ which make their physical debuts here; it’s a great release for those who want to revisit the activity time and again at their convenience. The release also features collectible box set packaging that’s certain to stand out on your shelf and all for a pretty reasonable price. Fans who already own the six previously released films on Blu-ray should be warned that those discs appear to be identical to the individual releases content wise, so it’ll be up to each fan whether it’s worth spending the money on the set primarily for the two new inclusions and the packaging. Those fans who don’t currently own any of the films on the other hand will be hard pressed to find a better way to finally own them all and will probably want to consider a purchase when possible.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation on all seven films in the set as well as the documentary, with the first six presented in a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio, while ‘Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin’ is presented in a 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentations each look quite solid and stay faithful to the source material within, showing significantly sharper and more detailed picture in some moments than others, though always in an effort to stay accurate to the camera and manner in which that segment and the camera used on it provide. There are lines, distortions and other elements within but never as a fault of the transfer, instead merely to maintain the believability that each was often shot utilizing different cameras and formats throughout. Overall, these are fully capable high definition video presentations that stay true to the source and intended look of each film and they shouldn’t disappoint.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all seven films and the Documentary. These multichannel soundtracks each offer clean, crisp and well balanced audio presentations for each film in the series. While much of the audio content is kept front and center, they do utilize all five available channels whenever appropriate in order to send some creepy noises and crashing effects, along with some other minor effects throughout the various speakers, particularly in emphasizing the jump scares throughout. Everything holds up well and all dialogue and other audio elements always remain clean, sharp and full audible, even when occurring simultaneously with other audio content. Overall, these are solid 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtracks that hold up well and should please fans and newcomers to the series alike.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection’ includes Unrated Versions for most of the films along with a few other extras included on the specific discs, not to mention a disc dedicated to the Documentary ‘Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity’ and all in a collectible box set release (we’ve included a beauty shot of the set at the bottom of the review provided by the studio for a better idea of what to expect). I’ve broken down the extras and included content of each disc below for simplicity and easier navigation.

Disc 1 (Paranormal Activity) includes the Theatrical Version of the film, as well as the film with an ‘Alternate Ending’. The disc also includes the option to watch the ‘Alternate Ending’ by itself.

Disc 2 (Paranormal Activity 2) includes both the ‘Theatrical Version’ (approximately 91 minutes) and the ‘Unrated/Extended Version’ (approximately 98 minutes) of the film, along with some additional ‘Found Footage’ (approximately 4 minutes) and the ‘Teaser Trailer’ (1 minute) for the movie.

Disc 3 (Paranormal Activity 3) includes both the ‘Theatrical Version’ (approximately 84 minutes) and the ‘Unrated/Extended Version’ (approximately 94 minutes) of the film, in addition to some extra footage included in the ‘Lost Tapes’ (approximately 3 minutes altogether).

Disc 4 (Paranormal Activity 4) includes both the ‘Theatrical Version’ (approximately 87 minutes) and the ‘Unrated/Extended Version’ (approximately 97 minutes) of the film, along with a nice collection of extra footage included in ‘The Recovered Files’ (approximately 29 minutes).

Disc 5 (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) includes the ‘Theatrical Version’ (approximately 84 minutes) and the ‘Unrated/Extended Version’ (approximately 101 minutes) of the film, along with some additional ‘Found Footage’ (approximately 11 minutes) from the movie.

Disc 6 and 7 (Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension) includes the Blu-ray 3D edition of the ‘Theatrical Version’ on one disc, along with a ‘Deleted Scene in 3D’. The other disc includes the 2D edition of the ‘Theatrical Version’ (approximately 88 minutes) and the ‘Unrated/Extended Version’ (approximately 97 minutes) of the film, along with an ‘Extended Version with Alternate Ending’ (approximately 95 minutes), as well as some extra ‘Lost Footage’ (approximately 20 minutes altogether) from the movie.

Disc 8 (Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin) includes the Feature Film, along with a collection of ‘Deleted Scenes’ (approximately 26 minutes altogether) from the movie.

Disc 9 (Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity) includes the Feature-Length Documentary exploring the birth and legacy of the franchise and featuring exclusive never-before-seen footage, plus interviews/comments with cast and crew of the movies and more.