Paranormal Activity 4 review

Release date: October 17th
Certificate: 15
Starring: Katie Featherston, Kathryn Newton, Brady Allen
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

What’s the story?
A new family get terrorised by demonic forces in this fourth in the series. Taking place after Paranormal Activity 2, it shows events from the point of view of teenaged Alice (Kathryn Newton), via her phone, laptop and games console.

What did we think?
On the one hand this is a serviceable horror that does what it says on the tin. On the other hand, it does little to further the ongoing story that’s fascinated fans so much. And we know the drill by now, so it’s less terrifying.

Horror movie teenagers are sensitive creatures. And so it falls to the teen of the house, Alice, to gets suspicious when a creepy-looking kid, Robbie, moves in while his mother’s been called away.
As an audience, we soon cotton on that “Robbie” is someone we know from previous films. As always, we’re one step ahead of the family, witnessing spooky movements and weird glimpses on camera while Alice goes about her business in blissful ignorance. Waiting for her, her boyfriend  and her parents to catch up is part of the fun.

It’s a familiar set up and Paranormal Activity 4 doesn’t try to offer anything particularly different. It not only plays homage to the films in its own series but to many other horrors such as The Shining. A kid riding a Big Wheel is briefly amusing but obvious stuff.

This does succeed in creating convincing characters you care about. But Paranormal Activity never gives hope of a happy ending – something that makes it quite a one-track format. Fans loyal to the series won’t want to miss this but it’s unlikely to win over any new fans. Still, with box office number like last time, they won’t need them.

Verdict: If you’ve been slavishly following the series you’ll find enough to enjoy. But as a stand-alone horror this is unoriginal and nowhere near as nerve-wracking as the first film