Review Tuesday: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4

After the first PARANORMAL ACTIVITY movie, the subsequent sequels were really prequels. When the rumor mill said that a fourth installment was in the work, jokes came out if it would be in black and white or even a silent film. Jokes aside, PARANORMAL ACVTIVITY 4 takes place five years after the events in the first two movies.

Plot: A suburban family notices strange things happening after a woman and an odd child move in across the street.

I've read reviews of this movie that state the following:

• The worst installment of the series.
• Only fans of the franchise will appreciate this movie.
• Etc.

I tend to agree. The movie weighs in at just under an hour and a half, yet this one really waited until the last FIVE minutes to really do anything. Despite all the footage that Alex (Kathryn Newton, the 15 year old daughter) and her boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively) were collecting, no one paid any attention. Even Alex and Ben stopped checking once things started heating up. No logic!

Additionally there are many queer turns of events that made no sense at all. I'll go through some, so there may be spoilers if you plan on seeing this flick:

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

• The continue to show scenes in the commercials and trailers, none of which are in the movie. ANNOYING!!!
• How does someone just take in a strangers' child? Even in suburban and rural life, I'm certain people would question a single mom having to go to the hospital for no good reason given.
• Who was this child Robbie(Brady Allen)? How / where did Katie get him?
• How did this family end up adopting Hunter?
• How was Robbie so well acquainted with the dark arts?
• Why did Katie and the demon murder the entire family when they only needed Wyatt (Hunter's adopted name) and Alex (for the virgin sacrifice)?
• Since the demon needed the virgin sacrifice, why did he try to asphyxiate Alex in the garage?
• How was Katie able to hide the horde of witches in the backyard? There appeared to be about fifty!
• What were the other apparitions visible thanks to the XBOX Kinect? How come the demon was never visible in the footage when clearly the Kinect picked it up for the video game they were playing in the beginning?
• Why did Katie seem strangely sexier in this movie than she did in any of the previous installments?

The questions and the lack of action were serious negatives about this movie. However, there were some positives. Ben was a cool character and usually kept his head until he had it snapped from his shoulders. Alex was a great character, and great actress. You actually felt bad when she bought her farm. Robbie was such a creepy character that he really owned this movie. Between Robbie and Alex, they made this mess watchable. I also foresee many roles for those two in the future due to their performances in this film.

If you aren't a fan of the franchise, skip this movie and rent it. It might actually seem creepier at home on TV. It's gotten bad reviews and it seems the bad word of mouth has already taken it's toll. Pass.

More on IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2109184/