Lack of activity dooms ‘Paranormal Activity 4’

There’s no need to recount the plot of Paranormal Activity 4, the latest sequel in the horror film franchise that launched in 2007. Nothing really happens in the slow-moving film. The movie is such a bore, it suggests the series has run its creative course and it’s time to pull the plug. But, since each of the four movies has made $100 million (or close to it) at the box office and an open-ending suggests otherwise, it’s not likely this is the last Paranormal film we’ll see.

Like the other movies in the series, Paranormal Activity 4 is shot like a pieced together found footage documentary. The film’s teenage protagonist Alex (Kathryn Newton) fears the odd neighborhood kid Robbie (Brady Allen ) has brought something sinister into her home when he comes to stay for few days while his mom is in the hospital. Robbie befriends Alex’s brother Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp) but starts telling him strange secrets. When Alex starts hearing weird noises and seeing unusual things happen around the house, she has her boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively) set up her laptop to record everything that happens in the house. Alex’s parents don’t believe her paranoia and her apparent inability to use any technology besides video chat, remember a simple password or get her doting boyfriend to access the video over the course of nearly two weeks leaves her unable to convince them that some kind of demon has invaded their home.

But something is seriously awry. And as the film slowly progresses and Alex and Ben start spotting an occult symbol, they realize that Robbie has recruited Alex for some kind of ritual. The plot progression is slow in this low budget film that resembles a home movie that you could practically hear people fidgeting in their seats at the screening we attended. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who teamed up together on Paranormal Activity 3, get a few cheap thrills here but they don’t pace the movie properly to ensure the film’s climax is worth the interminable wait.