Paranormal Activity 4

Awful, definitely the weakest link in the franchise.

I like part 3 and I though the series was back on track after the weak second installment. Guess I was wrong. It's hard to find any redeeming qualities about this film. The story is weak (if you can speak of a story at all), the main characters are annoying from the very first scene on and this movie has no really scary scenes. It mostly relies on tropes that are now trademarks of the series (things moving suspiciously in the house, loud noises, people being dragged by an unknown force) and plays it completely safe. The Xbox Kinect gimmick is interesting at first, but it is so overused during the film that it quickly becomes a marketing pull that hinges on the borderline offensive.

A waste of your time. I think I'm officially done with found footage films for a while.

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.

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'.

what a waste of time and cash.. the movie was pointless. with no flow. no questions answered. just a waste. I never review movies but had to share how bad this was..compared to part 1- 2- and 3.... i don't know what else to say other than how misleading the commercial is.. the commercial was cut and spliced with video and audio that didn't even match what happened in the movie... you have been warned. when the movie was over.. people actually Boo'd. hopefully people will spread the word, and save others from throwing their money away. i know die-hard fans will go and give it a shot, but will be disappointed as well. Sinister was better and actually made you jump quite a few times.

(**) 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.