Review: Paranormal Activity 4

Review: Paranormal Activity 4

Another Halloween means another instalment in the Paranormal Activity franchise. Last year, after the slightly disappointing Paranormal Activity 3, the cash cow series was accused of having its udders rubbed until red raw due to a disappointing film with a very lacklustre send off. 

So is Paranormal Activity 4 an exciting return to form for the home-video horror, or is it yet another example of a sequel nobody wanted?

The result is a mixed bag. The film has a lot of fun teasing its audience to the point where the tension has us on the edge of our seats, however when the tease is revealed to be nothing particularly exciting, original or even scary, Paranormal Activity 4 leaves a bitter feeling that we should have been given more.

For those who may have forgotten, Paranormal Activity 2 left off with the possessed Katie killing her older sister and stealing her baby, Hunter. Sprint forward a few years and we are introduced to Alice, a 15 year old girl with a little brother, Wyatt, and parents who seem to be hovering on the brink of divorce. One day, a single mother and her child, Robbie, move in to the house across the street and (apparently) the mother takes ill and Robbie has to stay with Alice's family for a few days. 

Needless to say, strange occurrences begin terrorizing the household as soon as Robbie steps foot in the door, and Alice becomes convinced that something - or someone - has begun creating some, er, paranormal activity with some fatal consequences.

There's really no need to delve further into the plot; it's enough to say that Alice has a sort-of boyfriend named Ben, who comes up the nifty idea of using the laptops within the house to constantly record what anyone may be up to. Another really cool addition to the narrative technique is the use of an Xbox 360's Kinect machine, which, when viewed through a video camera, bathes the room in an eerie green glow. 

Also in the movie's favour is the fact that the acting is fantastic, as Alice and Ben are surprisingly likeable protagonists despite their immaturity. They are actually convincing teens rather than adults pretending to be youthful, while the child actors playing Wyatt and Robbie are fantastically creepy. It is clear that Robbie is disturbed from the first moment we see him, and as the film progresses his sinister dialogue is delivered with a sense of dread. "Why doesn't he like me?" asks Ben, when Robbie confesses his unseen friend does not hold any fondness for him. "You'll see," replies Robbie, sending a shiver down our spines. 

Katie Featherston is also on top form as usual as the possessed antagonist, Katie. Her creepy movements, voice and general presence consistently brings back memories of the first two films.

However, the commendable acting is not enough to distract from the horrifically slow pace of the movie, as well as a lack of ingenuity followed by a very disappointing climax. 

We all know what to expect by now in terms of the scares; for the first 20 minutes or so, nothing particularly frightful occurs. A door opens of its own accord, or perhaps a light switches on for no reason. However, in previous instalments, particularly the second, there have been stand out moments of genuine fright and terror in the audience. Take for example, the kitchen scene in Paranormal Activity 2 in which Kristi sits in the middle of the day and reads a magazine. Then, with no anticipation or the ominous rumbling that we have come to expect, every single cupboard door slams open with an explosive bang, making us jump out of our seats. 

Unfortunately there is no such moment in Paranormal Activity 4. There is a massively tense build up to each scare, which ultimately makes the moment itself predictable and unable to live up to the promise of the anticipation. For example, several scenes involving the family's cat jumping in front of the camera become tiresome and it almost gets to the point where we are insulted by the film-makers for leading us on so tediously. 

Add to this a really short lived period of exciting terror during the last twenty seconds of the film and we are left with a bitter realization that Paranormal Activity 4 could have, and should have, been much scarier than it actually was. The movie itself is very unevenly paced, as it takes a very long time for the real tension to crank up and even then, it seems to end as soon as the film begins to show superb potential by transforming into a tale of pure terror. The final few terrifying minutes are easily the best moments of the movie and it's unfortunate that they are not a decent representation of the feature as a whole. 

Summary

Paranormal Activity 4 marks yet another commercially successful yet critically wavering episode in a series which has experienced a wavering level of quality in itself. To its merit, it has a superb cast who act brilliantly and naturally, which absorbs us further into a film which demands our full attention. That said, movie-goers who have been critical of the franchise in the past are unlikely to be converted this time, as the movie brings nothing new to the formula and is easily the least scary in the entire tetralogy so far. 

Better than the third but not quite reaching the same shocking heights of the first two, Paranormal Activity 4 is a decent spooky flick, however some horror fans may be hoping for something a little more Sinister...

6/10 - Not Bad

See it if you liked: Insidious (2011), Sinister (2012), The Possession (2012)