A documentary film-maker going to trace her biological mother in a remote Amish community is the way in for this latest Paranormal Activity series side-project. Far more Blair Witch than Paranormal Activity, especially in the later sequences, the film oddly straddles the found-footage genre and generic horror tropes in its presentation, with the parent franchise's signature conventions (such as the date intertitles and ominous bass rumbles) used as the overall framing device but with incongruous sound effects added to emphasis the jump scare moments. There are some effective choices made to expand the franchise beyond the main series, such as the remote and wintry setting, the children and the central narrative driving device, but Next Of Kin is not as enjoyable or effective as 2014's The Marked Ones. The paranormal aspect here is limited, and the rather blunt placing of foreshadowing elements makes watching the film a rather bleak trudge towards the inevitable and expected ending.
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