Paranormal Activity 4

I was warned that this was going to be a complete bullsh*t, and I knew it. But still I wanted to watch the last (I HOPE) movie from this poor franchise. You know what's the problem with Paranormal Activity? They made the same movie, FOUR TIMES. It's the same story, retold by a different vision, but with the same "scary" moments, the same characters with the same reactions (At first: Cool! Ghosts are invading my house, let's record this! And then: OMG, no one believes in me, we're f*cked!), and the same structure: Bulding up tension the whole movie, so in the end everyone dies in the final 5 minutes, in a very stupid way. I can't believe I've watched this movie, even knowing that it was going to be THAT bad.

If I could, I'd give this movie zero out of 10. It's one of the worst movies I have ever watching in the cinema. Actually, THE worst. It's as you expect. An hour and a half of utter boredom, tedious attempts to scare people & 10 seconds of action. It's the movie equivalent of going "boo". It's not scary, it's not in the slightest. If it wasn't for me wanting to get my moneys worth I'd have left half way through, something I was considering. Not a single flinch from myself. While teenage girls were going mental over the tiniest of noises. Don't waste your money or your time with this absolute drivel. The entire cast, crew & writers should be banned.

So, PA4 is not a bad film. It only adds minimal development to the story that had developed in the first three films, and in my opinion it doesn't have any big shock scenes like 2 and 3 did. For shocks, it's more on the level of PA1. I would call this one the mildest of the PA's. If you've seen the other three, then story-wise, you will probably feel like you've seen it all before. However, it is still a well done film that makes inventive use of easily accessible recording media. The family is relateable and engaging and I cared about what would happen to them. For me, the movie was most enjoyable for the lead actress and the actor who played her boyfriend. Kathryn Newton is radiant and engaging. She has a sweet, likable energy. Matt Shively, as her boyfriend Ben, right off the bat seemed like someone I would not like at all, but he very quickly won me over with his friendly sense of humor. These two leads made what would have been a redundant movie an enjoyable experience.

I made this account specifically for the soul purpose of reviewing this movie. Let me start off by saying that this is the worst movie I have ever seen and I don't ever say that. Now let's get into this god awful "film." First from an aesthetic point of view... More than half of the movie was out of focus. It was distracting and frustrating to know that something so poorly executed could be passed off as a Hollywood film. Now, the story... There was none! It was slow and boring. The only activity that happened was a knife disappeared and a few chairs moved with the occasional loud thumps. But apart from that the worst thing was the unanswered questions. First off you start off with a boy named Robby who lives across the street. You believe that this is Hunter seeing as how the kid's "mother" is Katie. Then come to find out that he isn't Hunter but the boy with the real family is, somehow, Hunter and was adopted. And the first boy, Robby, completely disappears without any sort of explanation never to be seen again. The teenage girl, Alex, sets up "carefully" placed web cams throughout the house that run at all times but she rarely checks any of the video. In fact, she only checks it twice throughout the entire movie even after the important things happen. She and her boyfriend do a little research and come up with something about there being three steps to doing something. What that something is I'm not really sure. The last step is the sacrifice of a virgin. Later on as the girl is sleeping, her little brother comes into her bedroom and Alex is lifted from her bed into the air. Then it cuts to the morning and she wakes up as if nothing happened at all. They set up a Kinect which shows movement. I thought this would be a cool concept except they did nothing with it. At one point they showed a little boy "ghost" following close behind Hunter but again, that was just something that was never discussed and never answered. The boy, Hunter, is dragged under water in the bath tub for several minutes and somehow doesn't drown. Finally he surfaces and his mom comes in and gets him out of the tub and that was that. There was a cat that was used only for cheap jumps from the audience. A chandelier fell from the ceiling and never talked about again. There was no explanation of why the two teenagers were carrying around cameras every where they went. At the end after everyone has been killed in the same way everyone in every movie was killed, Alex goes to the house across the street to find her dad. She winds up in the back yard of the house after running from Katie and for some reason there is an army of demon women. No idea where those demon women came from or what their purpose was but they were there. Then Katie catches Alex and kills her. End of movie. All in all... It just was not good. The story was bad. The cinematography was bad. The direction was bad. The acting actually was pretty good but that's the only thing that was. I would not recommend watching this. And this is coming from a guy who will defend the first three movies absolutely.

Is there actually any consistency in this series? Let's recap: In Paranormal Activity 3 (which takes place before the other films) we learn that the Grandma of the family is a bit of a bad apple and does the odd bit of devil worshiping and in the process likes to get young girls to do something not explicitly described but a strong implication of harboring demonic babies and or marrying demons…then forgetting the whole thing…quite why is never explained. Her own daughter either doesn't fulfill this role or did and its just a damn greedy demon. At the end of the film the Grandma takes her grandchildren to do whatever it is she wants them to do. Then in the 1st and 2nd films we see that the demon now wants a boy in return for the wealth and power it allegedly provided to the Grandma despite her living in a distinctively average house and apparently choosing not to share her wealth with any of her descendants. Quite what the demon got from whatever happened at the end of the 3rd film isn't clear but by hook or crook the demon gets the boy at the end of the second film. Now it's something of a clumsy demon because by the 4th film it's lost the boy and he's been adopted; but it wants him back. You'd think after all that effort it would do a better job of holding onto it but still. So in summary we don't know what the demon actually wants a boy for, or two young girls. It is starting to sound rather dodgy now isn't it, I wouldn't let that script writer babysit, the Grandma appears to have got a bit of a raw deal and the demon prefers more difficult targets to possess (some of the time?) rather than just possessing some homeless person if a kidnapping is all that's required. Is any of that inaccurate?

As a big fan of these films, I loved the first 3 this was a big disappointment. I've given it 2 out of 10 and in truth I feel like giving it a 1. Totally sold out and pandering to the masses now I'm afraid. If you a teenager this film will probably be for you. It's very much designed for this age group, a million miles away from the original. I had a feel this was going to be the case with this one. I'm sure they will do more but for sure I will not be watching, it's nothing but a cash cow now. Sitting watching this with some friends with a bunch of very rude teenagers behind us eating takeaway, kicking seats, and talking on mobiles during the film did nothing to add to the experience but did sum up the type of folk that will enjoy this drivel.

After having read countless reviews slandering this film and branding it as "a waste of time and money" and a film created solely for monetary reasons, I went to the cinema with very low expectations. However, after watching this film I am starting to think that people are just bitter. There were more than just a few scares, with excellent new methods of filming technology incorporated with the suspense and jumpy moments of which this franchise has built its name upon. I would recommend this movie to anyone a thousand times over, well worth the money! I do not usually review films on here, but the amount of negativity this film (unjustly) received angered me and I wanted to say that this film is an excellent progression for the franchise, leaving plenty of options open for new plot lines to come in the very near future.

So the forth film in the series. If there is money to be made they will keep churning them out and usually with total disregard to maintaining the quality that made the 1st film so popular. However, i am pleased to report that -although we know what to expect- this film is both intriguing and enjoyable. For those of you who have seen all the films you know that its not going to cover new ground but you are still expecting a decent continuation and contribution from a franchise that you like. Well, there is a lot to like here i think! After attending a special preview screening of the whole film (the directors informed us it wasn't the completely polished movie yet- still a little editing to be done) the audience reacted very positively towards it. //Plot- The film takes place five years after Paranormal Activity 2, which ended with Katie kidnapping Hunter. It follows the life of Alice, her boyfriend Ben, her mother, and her brother Wyatt as paranormal activity starts to occur when a mother and child (called Robbie) move into the neighbourhood. After Robbies mum goes to the hospital Alice's mother takes Robbie in, which leads to weird occurrences in their house// Look, in all honesty, there are a whole host of better horror movies to watch out there, but i am writing for those who WANT to see this movie on its own merits not any one seeking out a mind-blowing plot with incredible character development!...okay?! :) Anyway PA4 is kept simple which is a good thing, the acting, the format, the camera work and dialogue are all standard so this cant really be criticised. A new and amazing plot / acting etc is not what the directors are aiming for, what people are after is tension, suspense and jumpy scare moments which i believe delivers on all these aspects! With boo moments and fake outs a plenty. Also I like the fact there are weird occurrences in the day time as well as the night. The aspects that most stood out in PA4 was the use of an Xbox- this was a really cool effect and added an extra dimension to the film. The sound effects such as the well known vibration when tension is being racked up always gets me going, love that. It also contains an actual creepy kid and who doesn't like creepy kids! (...me!) So all in all, if you have never seen any of the previous films and you go to see this one (for some strange reason?!) you will have had a decent movie outing with jumpy moments and will probably want to watch the others after! For those who have seen the previous ones, you wont feel let down or disappointed with this one because it miles better than the 2nd one and i'd say it beats the 3rd one too! So there is fun to be had here with the film just like there is with Scream 4 too. (if you haven't seen it because its number 4 go see it, its actually quite good!) My advice is see it with a positive mindset and if you do that then GOOD THINGS will happen... mainly PARANORMAL THINGS!! (star ratings are based on 6-average, 7-good, 8- very good, 9- superb 10- Epic)

I would just like to start by saying that if you are a true fan of the original and know the story through and through, then this movie will not do anything for you. BUT, if you are just there for a few cheap jump scares, go for it. Still here? Okay lets continue. From the get go, you are introduced to the films before it, but none of the true mythology the previous films have built up (which is a shame because the third film left things to be explored). You are also introduced to a new family and that all you should really know for now. This movie is not worth it. Unlike the first film (and to an extent the second film) tension is not built up to a satisfying ending, as 20 minutes into the film we are already well established and getting scared by things popping out at any time. The acting in the film is okay for a horror movie for a film. BUT for a film so late into a franchise with no set direction for a 5th film, i think they should just let it die (but i'm sure 13 yr olds will just LOVE it for the fact things jump out which is NOT scary) And the Ending. I will not even comment as i believe it to be not a proper ending and i will go on a rant. Don't expect too much and you might enjoy it but for what its worth, it was atrocious, just another franchise getting run into the ground like the Saw films.