Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Better than I expected, but doesn't tell much of the story. Actually leaves a lot more questions than answering ANY questions =/

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

1 > 3 > 4 > 2.

There's a lot of promise with this entry, but I really can't blame Joost and Schulman as they clearly tried their best given the weak material. While there's more unique gimmicks on how to capture the footage a la Kinect and FaceTime, the film lacks payoffs. Instead the audience receives cheap cliches and no real story development.

There are some genuinely creepy moments, however, they're few and far between. When the film finally revs up its engine, it's too little too late as the film cuts to black.

The second and third entries had similar timeframes. While I think the second film is an absolute piece of shit, I loved the third entry. Joost and Schulman knew they couldn't go back to the well like its predecessor, so they made an absolute carnival ride of a horror film with jumps and scares at every turn. I was hoping this entry would be similar, but I was proved wrong.

I didn't stay as my friends wanted to leave. Instead, I got to see a teenage girl eat shit on her way out and spill popcorn and soda everywhere. However, according to the internet:

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltxyz5LcdF1qcsn3b.jpg

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

I haven't seen this one yet, but I'd rank them 2>1>3. I'll try to catch this in the next week or two.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

I thought the movie was ok. I'm not mad that I paid to see it, but this was easily the weakest of the bunch, though I admit that it was weak because the franchise is a known quantity now. If this was the second entry, I would have probably liked it better.

Sadly, this movie wasn't scary at all. Outside of one of the very last shots, there wasn't a single memorable scare in this movie. They relied too much on loud bangs that came from another point of the house for my tastes. The first movie had the girl being pulled from the bed, the second had the exploding kitchen, and the third had the upside down kitchen and floating sheet ghost. Maybe I'm over looking something, but there wasn't anything in 4 that left a similar impression for me. I guess the kinect stuff was supposed to be that for this movie, but I felt that resulting scare from that was lame (though the kinect dot effect looked cool).

Another thing that hurt this movie was the kid actors. I didn't buy into the demon seed so much, which was made especially bad in comparison to the child actor from Looper.

This movie also didn't add much to the lore of the franchise. I know these movies are strung together by paper thing shreads of connectivity, but I do like learning more about what's going on, and how things are connected. This movie didn't do anything with that, save for using recurring characters.

After that, it probably sounds like I hated the movie, but that definitely wasn't the case. It just was a bit lackluster, and I think it felt more like an short that was expanded into a full blown movie.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

There were a few moments I liked: When comparing it to PA3, this was a serious let down as not much happened. Joost and Schulman were throwing new things at you every few minutes whereas in this entry, they're more on auto-pilot.

I thought Robbie was creepy. When Wyatt was "possessed," it was ineffective.

This. I liked how PA3 ended on a big reveal with the hopes that PA4 would reveal even more. In fact, PA4 revealed nothing as there was no progress made.

To use an analogy: Paranormal Activity 4 is like watching a porno that cuts to black right when the money shot is about to happen.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

I'm usually done before then anyway, does the rest of it do its job?

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

I thought the final five minutes or so were extremely intense. My theatre was going ape-shit. No, it didn't really answer the questions posed in PA3 but it sort of expanded the scope of the mythology.

I do wonder how many of these movies Paramount can make. The profits are incredible (PA2-4 all had tiny budgets of $5M). I say do just one more for an even five and hopefully end on a high note.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Even not counting how much money they would lose if they stopped at 5, the answers to the questions we have cannot be fit into one film? I mean, there is still the back story of the boxes left in PA3 (like the 90's tapes), the dozen or so questions left after PA4, and then the end of PA4 with them being in Mexico.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Expanded the mythology? :lol:


PA2 actually had a budget of under $3M. PA3 and PA4 both had $5M budgets, but honestly, PA3 felt much larger in scope and size than PA4.

As the Saw franchise proved, if you need to end the franchise, you can answer all of your unanswered questions (and leave the door open) within 90 minutes. While they might not be the most effective 90 minutes, it's do-able.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

PA is a juggernaut right now - something new needs to come along to take the reigns. PA dethroned Saw.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Serious let down after part 3, which in my opinion was the best in the series. I think the gimmick is starting to wear itself out, but I wish I could learn more about the story already.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

I'm a huge fan of the franchise but this just felt phoned in. At the very least, a PA movie should be good for some cheap thrills but this one was lacking in even that. A few decent jump scares here and there but overall it was just weak. My recommendation for PA fans is to wait for the DVD. Its not worth the the cost of admission. For non-PA fans, just skip this one altogether.

The easy answer is that the premise is wearing thin but I'm not convinced yet that that is the case. PA3, the best in the series, did an amazing job slowly setting up the climax. This one didn't. I think that is why it failed.

Story (or lack thereof) was weak too. It tried to expand on the mythology but didnt accomplish that. However, I was surprised by the twist. It was well done and caught me off guard.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/58571...al-activity-4/

What a disappointment.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

What a joke. I was seriously dissapointed. I was hoping that maybe it'd at least surpass 2, but I honestly think it was the worst Found Footage film I've ever seen.



Awful... Just awful... It wasn't scary, it was not very funny, and it didn't expand the mythology at all until the the very end, but we know so little already it didn't make much sense.

I will still go see a 5th one if the reviews say it's worth going, if only because I do believe there is still gas left in this vehicle, but you could easily skip this one and not miss a beat. Waste of my time.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Just noticed this today. The actor who played the father died in September. I didn't see the entire end credits. Was there any acknowledgement of this? I know there wasn't one at the beginning of the credits.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...dra-lee-371290

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

I dont know if its bad word of mouth or if people are not interested any longer, i went to a Sat night showing at 7:30 PM and the theater was not even half full.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Five people, wife and I included, in our 3 PM showing today.

Man, this could've been something great. Lots of nice ideas but no payoff. Very frustrating. Even stayed for the after credit scene.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Clearly you never saw The Devil Inside.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Yeah there was.

On the note that the movie lost its novelty and what not, I don't think that's the case. It simply just did nothing at all to explain any answers and left us with more questions. Had the movie answered some questions, the fan based reviews would be better. I'm hoping that in part 5 or whatever it is they do (Mexico?) that they begin to tackle the history more and answer the questions.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

The Hispanic/Mexican/whatever they're planning on will be a spin-off of the franchise that's more rooted in Catholicism. I don't know if they'll be exorcisms a la The Devil Inside or it'll retain to witches or what. :shrug:

However, I assume it won't continue any of the history or story that the franchise has created/established up to now.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Has anyone seen the Japanese PA spinoff, Tokyo Night?

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

The Mexican portion of it sounds much more fascinating than all FOUR PA films put together. As a Mexican, there's much more scary shit embedded in Mexican folklore and terror than American folklore, imo. Seriously. The scripts would have to be top notch and the directors they decide to get should be competent. They better not cut corners on this spin-off.

It's also a great marketing/business move, because if an outside film came along and dethroned the PA franchise, then it would go the way of Saw. This way, with its own spin-off, they keep it in the family and keep the $$$$$ rolling in for many years to come.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Christopher B. Landon, who has written the last three PA films, will write and direct the spin-off. Take that as you will.

Re: Paranormal Activity 4 (Director TBD, October 2012)
 

Sad face. He's capable, because I did sort of like Burning Palms, but understand that PA is where the money comes in. I'm conflicted.


He better get a consultant or two.