Latest in horror series may be weakest installment, still scares up audience

Valerie Ettenhofer
Staff Writer 

The first time around, Paranormal Activity was an unknown entity, a film that defied expectation and shocked audiences. In the vein of The Blair Witch Project, filmmakers passed it off as a ‘found footage’ documentary about a couple who sets up cameras in their home to figure out what is going bump in the night.

Every successive film in the franchise has tried to top the scares while playing to a fan base that now expects a set formula. In most ways, “Paranormal Activity 4” follows the new horror movie standard to a T. It drops viewers into the home life of a well-off family right as something strange is about to happen. The incident divides the household and surrounding characters into three parts: the skeptics, the curious and the convinced. Action escalates, and the final scene is, well, killer.

This time, fresh-faced and charismatic Kathyrn Newton plays Alex, who quickly becomes convinced that there’s something strange about the neighbor boy. Unfortunately for her, the family is skeptical, and an accident lands the unsettling child in their care. A quick recap at the film’s beginning shows a possessed Katie (the first film’s hero) kidnapping her nephew Hunter, and the boy (whose name is Robbie) appears to be the catalyst for all of the trouble in this new household. Alex’s little brother Wyatt, who strikes up a friendship with Robbie, stands in as the curious side of the “Paranormal” archetype triangle.

Most of the supernatural thrills are predictable, providing ample setup to create a tense atmosphere. After noticing the movement of a Cheshire cat clock in five different scenes, one is just waiting for it to stop for the “I called it” moment. Despite the lingering feeling of fear that comes from heightened expectations, new props are used well to convey a growing sense of dread. A bathtub, a chandelier, a garage door, a kitchen knife and an X-box Kinect all become items of menace.

As far as series plot goes, this installment offers two meager twists that advance the overall story. The cleanly executed, thinly written, respectably acted film ends with a hook that will elicit screams of surprise from some and groans of frustration from others.