Picking up where the second film left off which is Five years after the disappearance of Katie and baby Hunter, we follow the first person adventures of teenager Alex (Kathryn Newton), her boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively) and her suburban family who begin to notice strange things going on when they decide to look after their neighbor’s son, Robbie, a very creepy and intelligent little boy. Robbie (Brady Allen) and Alex’s younger brother Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp) instantly become best friends but Robbie, who is likely Hunter, has devious plans to convert Wyatt to the dark side and become another one of Toby’s little friends..
Paranormal Activity 4 is Catfish directors Ariel Shulman and Henry Joost’s second foray into the Paranormal Activity realm after taking on the successful prequel that is Paranormal Activity 3. The result of their sophomore horror film is an unbalanced work that won’t draw new fans in but will satisfy old ones… to an extent. If you’ve seen any of the prior films, this one feels like less of the same, but I’ll get to why in a bit.
Where the directing duo succeeds is keeping the film feeling very realistic and grounded in reality as much as humanly possible. Alex and her boyfriend use Skype a lot and using the laptop as the main feed for the video made so much sense. Also, the inclusion of the X-Box Kinect’s technology was a pretty awesome idea, utilizing its motion sensors to unknowingly capture supernatural movement was an excellent way to take advantage of the technology as well as bring a new dynamic to the film’s visual style.
Another part that I enjoyed was the relationship between Alex and Ben, it seemed very much like what Micah and Katie’s relationship was like if they were teenagers in the present day. Ben brought a lot of comedic relief and a few cheap scares to entertain the audience.
Lastly, the child actors were great and Robbie was extremely creepy. I don’t know what it is but creepy kids just freak me out, especially when they say something particularly menacing. You’ll know what I mean when you see the scene of Robbie and Ben talking to each other.
The main problem with the film is that the climax is short lived. The reason I love these film is the escalating anticipation and, at times, when the anticipation pays off with a scare or two but instead we get an hour of comedy, followed by 20-25 minutes of a slow and intense build up as the paranormal activity begins to escalate and then concluding with 5-10 minutes of scares, and mostly scares you expect. It’s only until the final minute when they movie is either terrifying and you’ll shout “oh shit!” or you’ll laugh it off and say it’s a waste. Most will applaud at the end because they’ve made it through the stressful film and others will be pissed that the mythology wasn’t expanded on enough earlier in the film resulting in what 
could have been the most epic horror film of 2012. In actuality, Paranormal Activity 4 is a film that is really a long setup for the next film in the franchise, though I doubt that it will be the Latino spinoff that is teased after the credits (so be sure to stay).
One other issue I had with the film was that the parents didn’t believe Alex’s “tales.” Now I understand when there isn’t substantial footage to prove something happened to her but when something weird happens to both the mother, the father and Wyatt and Alex doesn’t show them the video of it or doesn’t see it herself, that’s when I draw the line and wonder why she only has select interest in the creepy events happening around her.
What’s funny about my bashing is that I say all this despite the fact that I was creeped out for a good chunk of the movie. This is mostly because I was anticipating something and noticing small details that were potential clues that Toby was on the prowl. Overall, Paranormal Activity 4 was not nearly as scary as its predecessors and had issues in a few other departments but it does do a good job of setting up its sequel, freaking people out at the end, and creating further interest into the mythology of both Toby and Katie’s existence.
Rating: If you’re already a fan of the series than check it out, if not, then don’t bother (4.6/10)
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