Okay, so I'll admit that I found the first "Paranormal Activity" to be overrated, and the second to be largely an extension of the first. The third one, I must admit, I found very effective at times, and it was the best of the franchise in my view.
Now we have "Paranormal Activity 4," and I must admit, I found this one utterly ridiculous in so many ways.
The base story is that Katie, the possessed woman from the first two films, and the sibling who was haunted by Toby in the third film, has moved next door to a new family with her adopted son "Robbie" in tow.
Robbie has a propensity for wandering onto the property of the neighbours across the street, giving Alex, the daughter of the family, and her best friend Ben the creeps...something that they mention seemingly every 30 seconds in the first half of the film.
One night Katie is taken away in an ambulance, and so the family across the street takes in Robbie until Katie is well enough to come home. During this time Robbie bonds with the family's young son Wyatt...and introduces him to his unseen companion...who we assume is "Toby," though I don't recall this ever being made clear.
Paranormal activities begin to plague the family, in particular Alex, from the moment that Robbie enters the home...but her efforts to alert her family of what's going on falls on deaf ears until, by the end, they meet the typical franchise fate.
Now it has to be said that I think the found footage element in this film has been stretched to the max. I mean, there are no home video cameras in the film...it's all captured apparently on laptop web cam...which requires Alex to basically cart along her laptop wherever she goes, while the other laptops are set to remote record.
Apparently no one closes there laptop after they're done using it, but I digress...the formula is obviously warn out.
As is the need to rely on jump scares and CGI. Seriously, aside from some menacing moments when Katie appears behind someone, and you're waiting to see what she does, there is literally no scares besides jump scares.
The most bizarre moment of the entire film...is when Alex and her Father are under attack by the witches coven and the paranormal force...and presumably as she's running for her life, Alex is carrying around her laptop.
To be honest, I just think they've run out of ideas on this franchise, which is I suspect why the film, even with about five minutes of clips from the first two films, just barely makes it over the 80 minute mark.
My advice: if you're looking for a scary film that will be with you for days...go see "Sinister." If you see this one, prepare to be disappointed...as it wouldn't be incorrect to say that the scariest scenes...are in the trailer...some of which somehow don't even make it into the film itself.
Now we have "Paranormal Activity 4," and I must admit, I found this one utterly ridiculous in so many ways.
The base story is that Katie, the possessed woman from the first two films, and the sibling who was haunted by Toby in the third film, has moved next door to a new family with her adopted son "Robbie" in tow.
Robbie has a propensity for wandering onto the property of the neighbours across the street, giving Alex, the daughter of the family, and her best friend Ben the creeps...something that they mention seemingly every 30 seconds in the first half of the film.
One night Katie is taken away in an ambulance, and so the family across the street takes in Robbie until Katie is well enough to come home. During this time Robbie bonds with the family's young son Wyatt...and introduces him to his unseen companion...who we assume is "Toby," though I don't recall this ever being made clear.
Paranormal activities begin to plague the family, in particular Alex, from the moment that Robbie enters the home...but her efforts to alert her family of what's going on falls on deaf ears until, by the end, they meet the typical franchise fate.
Now it has to be said that I think the found footage element in this film has been stretched to the max. I mean, there are no home video cameras in the film...it's all captured apparently on laptop web cam...which requires Alex to basically cart along her laptop wherever she goes, while the other laptops are set to remote record.
Apparently no one closes there laptop after they're done using it, but I digress...the formula is obviously warn out.
As is the need to rely on jump scares and CGI. Seriously, aside from some menacing moments when Katie appears behind someone, and you're waiting to see what she does, there is literally no scares besides jump scares.
The most bizarre moment of the entire film...is when Alex and her Father are under attack by the witches coven and the paranormal force...and presumably as she's running for her life, Alex is carrying around her laptop.
To be honest, I just think they've run out of ideas on this franchise, which is I suspect why the film, even with about five minutes of clips from the first two films, just barely makes it over the 80 minute mark.
My advice: if you're looking for a scary film that will be with you for days...go see "Sinister." If you see this one, prepare to be disappointed...as it wouldn't be incorrect to say that the scariest scenes...are in the trailer...some of which somehow don't even make it into the film itself.