MOVIE REVIEWS | INTERVIEWS | YOUTUBE |  NEWS |  EDITORIALS | EVENTS | AUDIO | ESSAYS | ARCHIVES | CONTACT |
 PHOTOS | COMING SOON| EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES ||HOME

                                                          
Sunday, November 4, 2012

MOVIE REVIEW
Paranormal Activity 4
When Things Go Bump In The Day, Early And Often


Kathryn Newton as Alex in "Paranormal Activity", directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Paramount Pictures
    
by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        FOLLOW                                            TWEET
Sunday, November 4, 2012

The demons are tired of Southern California, and have decided, in this fourth go-around for the "Paranormal Activity" franchise born in 2009, to head next door to Nevada, specifically to the town of Henderson, where mopped-haired Robbie (Brady Allen), a mysterious boy, seems to have dropped in solo out of nowhere amidst soccer moms.  Katie (Katie Featherston), demon alumna, is seen at the start with baby nephew Hunter, whom she abducted during last year's film.  We are reminded that the whereabouts of Katie and Hunter are unknown, but where "Paranormal Activity 4" is going is hardly a mystery.

Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, directors of the near-appalling and overrated "Catfish", return to direct "Paranormal Activity 4", a huge step down from their effort on the third installment.  A new family is the testing ground for demonic activity, with Alex (Kathryn Newton), an adolescent who has the typical teen strife with her self-absorbed and uninvolved parents.  Her boyfriend is tethered to her, mostly via the camera on her laptop, which she carries around, and whose perspective we see her, mainly in close-ups.  Alex's stepbrother Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp) is going through changes of his own, likely prompted by the presence of Robbie, who is virtually mute throughout, except in key moments when he's not.

There was a very recent time when "Paranormal Activity" meant something fresh or interesting, but the second, third and this fourth effort are all about dodging the audience's expectation of being scared, and placing scares where one least expects them.  The problem is that screenwriter Christopher Landon isn't able to elude audiences either with a story that is interesting independent of the horror genre in a sufficient way until the conclusion where the sole genuine fright occurs.  By then however, what has transpired before has been empty, disengaged and mundane.  The demons have become bolder, striking more often during the day, rendering the repetitive "Night #1" count-ups redundant.  The video camera clock has become a relic.  The franchise needs to freshen up and shake it and the audience up. 

Making ordinary household scares scary for audiences isn't as scary as it used to be.  The problem with "Paranormal Activity 4" is that to not be scared is to be numb, yet the film's garden variety of fearfest has been diminished and blunted with repetitive red herrings and is even more numbing than scary.  So what is one to do?  End the franchise?  Get a better story together?  One thing is true: "Paranormal Activity" has become an instant parody of itself, and that isn't good news.

Also with: Alexondra Lee, Stephen Dunham, Brian Boland, Sara Mornell, William Juan Prieto, Sprague Grayden.

"Paranormal Activity 4" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for language and some violence/terror.  The film's running time is one hour and 28 minutes.  

COPYRIGHT 2012.  POPCORNREEL.COM.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.                 FOLLOW

MOVIE REVIEWS | INTERVIEWS | YOUTUBE |  NEWS |  EDITORIALS | EVENTS | AUDIO | ESSAYS | ARCHIVES | CONTACT | PHOTOS | COMING SOON| EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES ||HOME