Paranormal Activity 4: News, Discussion, etc

[Ethros]

Well this came out on Wednesday here in the UK; it's not out till Friday in the US though.
Saw it this afternoon.

Two words-

Jail. Bait.




Anyway, like PA3, most of the stuff in the trailer isn't actually in the film, but similarish scenes are. I know why they do that, and also agree with the why too, you don't really wanna ruin/spoil your big scares and jumps for a movie like this in the trailer.
...although that leads on a problem with this latest part of the franchise. It's not really that scary. IMO anyway, certainly of the 4 it's the one that made me jump or be scared the least. I think I only jumped maybe once in this? Most of them you can pretty much see coming, and it's only really the last five minutes or so where it gets freaky.

I'm never one for writing big reviews, but I think This at SFX says most of what I thought, 3/5



I have some more comments to make about the overall arc plot, mostly of what was revealed from PA3, but I'll wait till some others have seen it too.

Basically I'd say if you're a fan of the series go see it, though it's definitely not the best entry you can still enjoy it. And if you're not a fan, well like I used to say about the Saw sequels, if you didn't like the others why would you be watching pt.4 or onwards?

 

[Admiral_Young]

The important question from me...do we have original story resolution? I assume they seed for future films as well?

 

[Captain Craig]

I'm not surprised to hear that scenes from trailers are not in the film. That M.O. has been done and frankly expected. I like all 3 and have a hard time labeling one "the worst", the quality has been as even keel as one would want in a series so the last paragraph by Ethros has me puzzled but the gist is "you'll like it if you like the others", and that's good enough I suppose.

 

[Admiral2]

The important question from me...do we have original story resolution? I assume they seed for future films as well?

No resolution. Expect a 5.

I always compare sequels with the original. This one, like the others, has nothing on the first one, though I appreciated the extra helpings of Katie. I like her, demon possession and all.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah I broke down and ended up reading the wikipedia article which was updated with the plot. I'm kind of disappointed...but understand. This has become a franchise, and Paramount is going to milk it for everything it's worth until fans become bored of it and stop going. I will still see it, but right now story wise I'm kind of disappointed.

 

[Ethros]

Mmm, like how the trailers for this were saying stuff like "its all been leading to this! All the activity has lead to this! dum dum dum!" etc
It all just reminded me of how Saw IV, V and VI were promoted. They all said things like "answers are revealed! Discover the truth" and so on. Of course you never did, and there was always another film to come. It wasn't until they finally stopped with VII that they (more or less) paid things off.


But yeah, given what was revealed about the demon, the cult behind it, the girl's grandma etc in the third movie, very little is followed up on or explained in this new entry.

There's also a definate suspension of disbelief in the final part. How is Alex recording this? Presumably on her iPhone I guess. Would you really be running away from monsters trying to kill you and still be holding up your phone to record it all?? Ha

Some other points I wanted to make on the movie that I'll use spoiler code for-

Spoiler: Spoilers for PA4

So this takes place five years after PA 1&2. at first you think the creepy kid over the road is Hunter, but then it turns out the kid of the family is actually Hunter, who was adopted a few years ago. So if Demon-Katie took Hunter away as a baby, how did she lose him in order for him to be adopted? It seemed like the point of the movie's events was like her trying to get him back, but she already had him anyway at the end of PA2. I didn't really understand that.
And then also, so who even was that creepy kid over the road? Katie's son? Where did he come from?

And who were all those dozens of possessed people/demons (like how Katie looked) at the end? Gah, I need answers! Don't want to have to wait a whole other year for PA5 and then that probably won't explain much either.
Still, that part where demon-Katie was at the end of the corridor and then like RAN down it after Alex with that horrible face scared the shit out of me


An amusing point though, it seems in these movies if you're the male husband/partner/boyfriend it's doubtful you're gonna survive till the end! Micah in the first, husband Dan in 2, boyfriend Dennis in 3, and now friend/boyfriend Ben in 4

 

[Captain Craig]

We using this thread for the grading/review as well?

 

[Admiral_Young]

I can't be bothered to start a grading thread and I don't think it'll get too many responses so we should just continue using this.

 

[Ethros]

Yeah, I was skimming through the threads for 2 & 3, they don't have tonnes of comments so not much point making a new thread when we have this

 

[the G-man]

All I know is that, once you name your demon "Toby," your movie series is no longer scary to anyone...except maybe Michael Scott.

 

[inflatabledalek]

Not as good as the third one was, probably about the same level as the second. Some nice scares here and there (though once again one of the better ones from the trailer isn't in the film!) and a great garage sequence.

Spoiler: PA4

Considering how smug I was about who the little boy and his "Mother" really were the revelation of which kid was Hunter was a nice twist. Even if, as said, it didn't really make any sense (if she was going to raise an evil adopted child anyway why not keep Hunter? I did wonder if one or both parents were going to turn out to be in on it, but no.

Th main weakness was the ending, she has the option of going to get the police after she (somehow) escapes the demon, but instead runs into the house where she knows all the weird ¤¤¤¤ is happening. How exactly was she planning to save her dad and brother from demonic forces? She could have at least knocked up some of her neighbours for help.

Also, the coven weren't as funny this time as they were hiding in the dark in that closet in the third one. Was that the same house the granny lived in in last film as well?

I still like how every film has offered a slightly different take on what's really happening due to the likely poor research/googling from the characters. I find that more interesting than a definative answer would be (because, lets face it, there's no answer at this stage that wouldn't seem deeply silly if it tried to rationalise everything we've seen).

Oh, and whilst I liked how the Connect product placement was incorporated into the script, I'm fairly sure I shouldn't have come out with such a strange craving for Pepsi.

 

[the G-man]

I'm fairly sure I shouldn't have come out with such a strange craving for Pepsi.

Product placement. The only true form of possession in Hollywood.

 

[Captain Craig]

I think this film took a bit longer to get going, at least it felt that way.
The last 15 or so minutes are very good.

One of my big gripes was:

Spoiler: movie moment

that we went days, DAYS and they were never checking up on what the computers were recording. Stopping just to check out the kitchen knife sequence, either time, should've had them going "something isn't right". I also agree with why was Alex running head on into the crazy neighbors house. What's she going to do? Where did all those women come from? Wouldn't the street be full of cars? They did get me on the twist of Wyatt actually being Hunter which only means that Robbie has his own story I suppose.

I don't have a problem with the kids calling the demon Toby. It is after all how a child is relating to the "imaginary friend". I mean if the child is going,"this is my imaginary friend Bloody Demon" then a parent is going to being having their child tested. Normalcy breaks down faster than "Toby" needs.

Overall I still enjoyed the film though.
I'm thinking B/B- as a grade for now, may change, we'll see.

 

[Admiral2]

One of my big gripes was:

Spoiler: movie moment

that we went days, DAYS and they were never checking up on what the computers were recording. Stopping just to check out the kitchen knife sequence, either time, should've had them going "something isn't right".

Spoiler: COMPUTERS

White people in a horror movie, my friend, lose all trace of common sense. The great Eddie Murphy explained this in his stand up ages ago. Paraphrasing:

"White person goes into the bathroom, sees blood comin' up outta the toilet, he goes, 'Hmm. That's peculiar." Brother's standin' in the living room says to his wife, 'Aw, this is great, baby! We got the nice big house, with the nice furniture and the chandeliers...this is really great.' Ghost says: GET OUT!!!! 'Too bad we can't stay, baby...'"

 

[scnj]

Saw it earlier, and enjoyed it enough. A couple of things bugged me, like the weird plot device of Katie having given up Hunter, only to get another child and go get the original one back. Hopefully that gets explained in 5.

I loved the Kinect particles and wish they'd used that more. Very clever way of building tension, somewhat like the oscillating camera in 3. There was some weird stuff like questions as to why people were still filming at points towards the end, but that can be applied to many films in this genre.

Also, what was with that end credits scene? Was that a hint to what we'll be seeing in the fifth movie?

 

[Admiral_Young]

Fifth movie is on the way...along with a spin-off. I'm done if this doesn't finally give us answers.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Paranormal-Activity-5-Latino-Focused-Spinoff-Their-Way-33697.html

 

[the G-man]

I don't have a problem with the kids calling the demon Toby. It is after all how a child is relating to the "imaginary friend". I mean if the child is going,"this is my imaginary friend Bloody Demon" then a parent is going to being having their child tested. Normalcy breaks down faster than "Toby" needs.

In the Exorcist, Regan referred to her "imaginary friend" as "Captain Howdy" for much the same reason. However, the film's characters dropped it pretty quick when the real possession stuff kicked in. And the producers generally didn't refer to the demon by that name in promotional material, etc.

 

[od0_ital]

Well, I'm all caught up with the series. Rewatched the first one, the unrated director's cut of the second (saw the theatrical cut when it first came out), and both the theatrical & unrated directors' cut of the third over the last few days.

Got a plan to see the fourth with a friend of mine on Wednesday.

Already saw the news about a fifth & the Mexican spin-off, so just expectin' more of the same - dull hour or so, with twenty minutes of awesome at the end.