Seeing that the Halloween season has come and gone, a horror film review is the perfect way to say farewell to the October season. A lot of things have been said about the Paranormal Activity movie series and viewers tend to either love or hate them. yet the critics have to admit that Paranormal Activity 4 is a great shocker of a movie and it has an absolute amazing ability to make you paranoid at all times, sneak up on you and attack when you least suspect it – hence the film title. This movie is definitely not suited for people of all ages and ranges. If you are the type that is easily frightened you absolutely sat down in the wrong theater and should probably go see a comedy instead. Secondly if you enjoy a complicated psychological thriller or simply a bloody slasher movie, Paranormal Activity 4 is not geared for you either.
This movie is for the ones who, first of all, like to sit on the edge of their seat and honestly find joy in feeling the adrenaline rush throughout the entire 100-minute duration of the film. This movie does not have any complex plot or difficult dialog; it is very direct and shows “right on horror.” Last and not least you should not see this movie if you don’t like the “real life documentary filming” style. Live cameras shoot the whole movie, which just makes the experience more intense and realistic, targeting the exact feel some audience members might not enjoy. That being said, I would definitely recommend this movie to all horror film connoisseurs looking to experience a thrill of the evil from beyond.

The movie focuses on an ordinary suburban family that lives a normal life until the moment creepy child neighbor Robbie, played by Brady Allen, moves in with the family because his mother is admitted to the hospital and he has nowhere to turn. The longer Robbie stays in the family’s house, the more weird and unexplainable things start to happen. This kid is unlike other children in the neighborhood, hinting supernatural activity in to the house – the audience assumes it to be derived from Robbie. The story revolves around the teenage daughter Alex, played by Kathryn Newton, her boyfriend, played by Matt Shively, Alex’s little brother played by Aiden Lovekamp and their new house guest Robbie. The movie gets increasingly scary as it progresses and finishes of with a big bang of an ending that is not suitable for the sensitive audience.

Opposed to its three predecessors, Paranormal Activity 4 is much faster paced and more shocking. One of the new elements that I really enjoyed was the Skype conversation scenes in which you see the main character carrying a computer around the house while talking to her boyfriend, and you can see mysterious activities happening in the background. This is the first time that we actually see a live camera move together with the person and that adds more suspense and action to the film.

Even though I enjoyed this movie and would watch it again I believe it was missing originality and diversity. Aside from the fast pace and the scarier shocks, it reminds viewers a lot of the three other movies and was limited to the same few scenes (the house, Alex’s room, etc.) For instance, if there were scenes from the high school, the parents’ work place and other places where the paranormal activity would have happened, the film would have much more variety. That being said, it was a good but not great movie that is definitely worth watching once or even twice. If you are a fan of the “Paranormal franchise” you would love this movie, but if you are a neutral movie lover, chances are you will be disappointed. I give this movie a score of 72 out of 100.