Paranormal Activity 4

Despite only finding at best mixed reviews, I had high hopes for this film as a fan of the series; the original Paranormal Activity was a refreshing change from what had become a stale and repetitive phase of horror films. I was apprehensive that a sequel would be a disappointment but was, if anything, better than the first installment. I enjoyed the third film to an extent, turning a blind eye to the repetitiveness and weak story. The cliff-hanger ending reassured me that the fourth Paranormal Activity would answer the fairly basic questions which are the only reasons that we feel the need to watch every film in this series.

However, Paranormal Activity 4 is the most disappointing yet. Granted, some moments would make me jump…if those moments weren't almost identical to the ones in the first, second and third films. Not only are the scares hugely predictable, but this installment doesn't even answer any of the questions that audiences have. In fact, it somehow manages to raise more, particularly with the frankly terrible ending – OK, so a long time ago, someone in the original family made a pact to give the first-born male to this Demon. The first-born male being Hunter, who was kidnapped by Katie in the second film. We still do not known exactly what this has to do with the coven of countless women who are seen in the third film, and at the end of the fourth film.

Aside from the hopes of sucking more money from viewers who have been drawn into the original genius of these films, I don't see what is stopping the demon from taking Hunter and that being the end of it. Especially now that the demon has control of a Human body (Katie) and all of Hunters family is dead so there is no one to stop it or try to save him.

Overall, this film was hugely disappointing, failing completely to recover from the slump of story line and structure, which the third film saw. As much as I would love to say that I will not bother watching any more of these films, this wouldn't be true because I need to have my questions answered and find out what it's all about. All we can hope is that they do something a little bit different next time and finally wrap up the story.

(**) out of (****)

Giving "Paranormal Activity 4" a passable score is a bit of a stretch, considering how badly I want to give it a 4, but that wouldn't be honest. What I can tell you is this is probably the weakest "5" I've given a film. Let's cut to the chase: Even if you're a "Paranormal" fan, there are absolutely no scares in this one. Well, there wasn't really in the last one (in my opinion), but this one just re- enforces that belief.

Where did it all go wrong? Humor. Okay, I understand you have to inject some (especially considering a new direction), but they went overboard. At times, I thought they were going to cross Scary Movie territory. Also, too polished in some areas and rough in others. Unlike the first two, (maybe) the third one, this has Hollywood written all over it. For an example, the soccer match in the beginning of the movie is too crisp/smooth for a film like this. It suspends all belief. Yet scenes within the family at night, are a little cheaper than before.

So NO scares? It's everything the series avoided. A plethora of jump scares. All this build up for sometimes a no show. And many GOTCHA! moments, that are not organic in the least. The main lead does a fine job, but her boyfriend makes me raise a finger or two. And don't get me started on the family. And that ending? Golly. This might be worse than The Devil Inside's resolution!

If they make a fifth, go back to the territory the first two explored. After that, the series just took a decline. Typically with films rated a "5", you should at the least rent it, but you really don't need to waste your time with this one.

I went into the movie not expecting it to be as good as the other Paranormal Activities. They all seemed to go downhill since the first one came out. This one was just too slow. There were the obvious suspenseful scenes but there just wasn't enough. The movie had hope at times but then it was just squashed by rushing through. They didn't go into much detail about the demonic possession and skipped over plenty of unanswered questions. The last twenty minutes of the movie were by far the best. And that is the only reason it got four stars. I do hope they give up and don't plan on making another one. The few screams that the movie did get wasn't worth the $11.50 I paid for the ticket. Wait until it comes out on RedBox.

Franchise fatigue has definitely set in with this tedious fourth instalment.

After taking things off on a slightly different tangent with the previous film, the same writing/directing duo instead plump for the same old, same old - lots of nothing happening before LOUD NOISES! freak out the teenage girls in the audience and the less discerning horror moviegoers.

And, despite some spirited (ha!) performances, the lack of any real plot development leaves the mythology treading water and the series as a whole rather confused.

Ultimately, PA 4 is a step back and the textbook definition of 'diminished return'.

I am never giving this franchise another dime, nor another minute of my life; mark my words, so long as I live. That's four movies, at approximately two hours per film, twelve opening-weekend cinema passes at three tickets per release… all for what?? There's no bigger-picture, here! There's no larger story being told… there *IS* no story to this story!

The writers are doing nothing more than frantically clamoring to try and keep the series going for just one-more-year. Short pay-off, because they realize they've got NOTHING of substance. Like "Lost," in it's final season, you're left holding the bag, realizing it was all for nothing: the writers had sh*t, and so that is what they gave you… sh*t.

Me? I'm embarrassed I stayed this long. This is my stop, this is where I get off.