Paranormal Activity 4

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.

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.

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.

(**) 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 am glad I did not pay to go see this film in the theater. It would have been a waste of money not to mention the time. This film was extremely gimmicky; almost as though the company made it like a filler to give the writers more time to come up with a better story, but still wanted to make another couple of bucks by milking the franchise at the same time.

I don't know if it is just me, but I think the last two movies are proof enough that they are showing the symptoms of "Saw Syndrome." A new year, another movie. It takes longer than a year to write a decent script, but I guess that does not really matter to today's audience.