COUNTRY: USA
STARRING: Katie Featherston
DIRECTED BY: Henry Joost, Ariel Schuman
RUNTIME: 88 Minutes
RATING: 14A
If horror franchise history 101 has taught me one thing, it’s that usually the franchises start getting long in the tooth after the third movie. The only franchise I’ve seen an exception with that was the Friday the 13th series, where part IV was where the series became watchable. And be it no surprise that something like Paranormal Activity is something that manages to rake in money with every installment every year. The series before it that held the same claim to fame was the Saw franchise. And what do both of these have in common? Both peaked at the third movie. Sadly, Paranormal Activity is quickly becoming the new Saw franchise, something I’ve feared since before the second movie came out.
Yet, in a way, it makes more sense to drag the Paranormal franchise out than the Saw franchise. With Saw, Jigsaw died in the third movie, and we got a bunch of ridiculous whodunits, all amounting to some silly twist that read like a fanfic, with Dr. Gordon filling in for Jigsaw. Here, there hasn’t been any silly twists, since the series has made things more apparent with every movie about the origin of the demon, and even the idea of a satanic cult was interesting. I liked it when they brought it up in the third movie. Problem is, we’re on the fourth movie in the series now and really nothing has been done with it. I mean, yes, I could complain that the movie has repeated the same formula over and over again, but more on that later.
Having broken out of the sequel with a prequel formula, Paranormal 4 starts with a scene near the end of the second movie, where Katie and Hunter are sitting with Kristi by the side of the backyard pool, and she gives him a bracelet. Then a series of obligatory title cards, in the same typewriter font as the previous movies, explain what has happened so far. Right, as if we, the people who saw every movie in the series, needs to be explained to why and what happened. Then, we get the ending of the second movie, with Katie killing Kristi, running off with Hunter, and maybe a 2 second shot that’s completely new, where Katie walks out of the house with Hunter, and that same title card explaining how their whereabouts remain unknown. Already we’re 3 minutes into the movie and we haven’t got any new material… is the series really this out of ideas?
Anyways. We go to November 2011, in Henderson, Nevada. We’re focused on a new family, whose last name for some reason remains unknown. The mom and dad haven’t talked to each other a lot lately, and are on the verge of divorce. The daughter is a very beautiful and happy 15 year old with a cool boyfriend, who may be the only interesting character in this movie. Furthermore, they have an adopted 6-year-old named Wyatt, who’s parents remain unknown. They’ve been receiving mysterious visits from a creepy kid named Robbie, including an unwelcome visit in the family treehouse, and when an accident happens with his mom, he is forced to stay three days at their house. The boyfriend of Alex, the daughter, points out that the XBOX Kinect projects dots that are only visible on night vision video cams, that track movement. This was a gimmick I was hoping would work, kinda like the oscillating fan in the third movie, but sadly, it only served useful maybe once.
And so in the first night of his staying there, Alex hears a noise downstairs at 3 AM, and finds Robbie standing creepily in front of the Kinect. Some mysterious ghost, who runs behind him and shakes the house, appears, and this compels the boyfriend, who is tech savvy, to set up the family’s laptops in places around the house, and leave them open, as apparently they can record video even when they’re turned off. This was something else I was hoping would do some good, but really, it didn’t.
So, really nothing happens for this time period, but for a few things. One unexpected (but not really scary) moment is when a chandelier mysteriously drops from the ceiling, and Alex, holding the camera, pans the camera up to find Robbie sitting there, watching and staring in silence. Another moment is when a knife manages to disappear in one scene, and then, in another scene, falls down in front of the camera, startling the dad in the family. And there’s Katie’s appearances, which are good fun and Featherston, as expected, turns in a great performance as Ktie who is now completely possessed by the demon. There’s one good jump scare in the scene at the end, where Alex finds a demonic coven, then turns to find Demonic Katie launching for her. Mind you, we had to sit through 80 minutes of same old same old to get to that part, which is never a good sign.
By this point, it should become blazingly obvious what happens, even if you haven’t seen the first four movies. Which is the problem- this movie is one big, long prologue into the fifth movie. Nothing is done to advance the films plot, and by that, I mean NOTHING. Even Katie’s appearances and the twist ending involving Wyatt, do absolutely nothing to further the movie’s plot.
So maybe the movie really isn’t as bad as I may make it sound. It’s an OKAY film, if you’re a die-hard fan if the series. I’ll admit, I have seen worse. But since we’ve gotten four movies into the franchise, two being done by Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann, who both did a great job with the third movie (many because they had some documentary experience with fan favourite “Catfish”, which got lots of praise from critics and audience alike), and using the same formula, Oren Peli seems to not know where he’s going with this series. Hell, the formula from the third movie is repeated here. And believe me, it’s an even more stale version of the ending from Paranormal 3. In fact, I kid you not, as soon as the credits came up, the audience booed at the film. That’s a definite clue that the series has nowhere to go but forward, with the same formula under its belt, but even less scares than the original. Furthermore, the series has even sunk to the level of using jump scares and CG. the low budget first movie had one jump scare and no CG, 2 and 3 had maybe 2 or 3 with a small dash of CG. CG is everywhere in this movie and it’s unintentionally hilarious (does Tobey REALLY look like an alien?)
From an acting standpoint, the film isn’t bad per se. Katie Featherston is predictably great, and the boyfriend is great too. Reading his IMDb bio, I noticed that he’s been in theatre since the fourth grade, just like me. So its definitely not a surprise he can act. From an aesthetic standpoint is where the movie fails. I saw the movie in IMAX, and it’s baffling why it even got an IMAX release. Alright, the sound was great but more on that later. The movie’s shots can be divided into two categories: fuzzy, webcam style shots and shots of Alex’s face. And Alex is a pretty girl and all, but we don’t get enough of her parents either, which is a rarity for the franchise. From the third movie, Dennis was a fun character and the mother was funny, though bitchy. And the mother and father here uninteresting because WE SEE SO LITTLE OF THEM.
It’s worth a note that Robbie isn’t all that scary either. Kids get a bad rap In horror movies nowadays and it’s not hard to figure out why. Robbie is kinda creepy in his first appearance in the tree house, but after that he isn’t creepy at all. He confuses creepy stares with bored droning facial expressions, and seems like a little kid who is crabby because he can’t get that toy he wants.
So, finally, a word to Oren Peli. LET THIS THING DIE HERE. And perhaps fire the screenwriter, Christopher Landon, with it. Or at least find someone who can do something with Paranormal 5, since it hasn’t even been two days since the movie came out and already you have announced the fifth movie. I’m sure super special edition 4 disc directors cut blu-ray release with a holographic slipcase cover and a ticket to Paranormal Activity 5 will have all the special deleted scenes and alternate endings, but at this point, I don’t even care anymore. This movie is by no means a classic, and while I may have seen worse, it’s only a matter of time before this franchise devolved even further into Saw-itude.
-SCORES-
Overall: 3/10
Sex: 0/5
Violence: 2/5
Jumps: Too many of them
Chills: 1/5
Originality: 0/5
Franchise rate: On its way to becoming the next Saw
***Approach with caution***
Life at the barrier 