Review: Paranormal Activity 4
A new family experience unsettling and possibly paranormal things as they
take care of a neighbour’s kid named Robbie (Brady Allen). Teen daughter
Kathryn Newton is convinced that Robbie is a little bit creepy and ropes her
douchy boyfriend into helping her investigate. Meanwhile, Robbie and the
family’s similarly aged boy Wyatt seem to be bonding, and that’s when things
get even weirder. Real-life couple Alexondra Lee and the late Stephen Dunham
(who died after filming, tragically) play Newton’s parents, typical Doubting
Thomas’s.
It’s not supposed to be like this. Oh sure, I could say that “Friday
the 13th Part 3” and “Friday the 13th: The Final
Chapter” are the best films in a crap series, but for the most part,
sequels are supposed to get progressively worse, not better. The first “Paranormal
Activity” was a pretty effective ‘found footage’ horror film that even
managed to make me a little uneasy during the middle of the day. The second one
was appalling in its blatant and lazy mimicry of the first film. I was never
able to get into it because I already knew to expect a whole lot of nothing
before shit started getting fucked up, and thus spent most of the film sitting
on my hands. The third one, well that was even worse, a shameful and frankly
desperate cash grab. So this 2012 film from directors Henry Joost & Ariel
Schulman, and writer Christopher Landon (the same team behind “Paranormal
Activity 3”) has to be the worst one of all, right? Actually it’s
surprisingly watchable. I know, I’m shocked too, but it’s the truth.
The funny thing is, it’s not even all that different, it simply works
better than the previous too, if a long way from the first film’s
effectiveness. The characters are the most likeable since the first film, the
cinematography by Doug Emmett shows some really good shot composition, with
creepiness turning up in the corner of the frame silently, which is always
creepier than some kind of loud musical sting. Emmett also supplies relatively
steady handheld camerawork without it being so steady that it shatters the
illusion. I also have to credit a particularly brilliant piece of misdirection
involving a chandelier. That one got me! There’s also a legitimately upsetting
and horrifying bit involving a bathtub that thankfully turns out to be a
fake-out. Sick bastards. Meanwhile, I vaguely recognised Alexondra Lee but not
in any way that I was able to pinpoint where, so I just assumed I was wrong,
until I saw her name in the credits. Even then I had to check IMDb to see
whether it was “Dawson’s Creek” or “Party of Five” I remembered
her from. Turns out it was the latter, and probably “Boston Public” too,
but boy that’s going back a long way, unlike the previous two films that
featured a fairly prominent cast member of “24”. If lead actress Kathryn
Newton doesn’t go on to something else after this, I’ll be very surprised.
She’s particularly good, and has something about her that is very appealing.
Brady Allen’s Robbie, meanwhile, is the creepiest kid since “Orphan”.
The little shit is unsettling from moment one- but is he the one you need to
keep your eye on? Cute “Shining” reference involving a very
familiar-looking toy tricycle, by the way.
It’s a real shame that this is “Paranormal Activity 4” and not “Paranormal
Activity 2” because it’s a respectable follow-up. It’s nothing great, and
apparently everyone else hated it, but I was seriously expecting a turkey and
this is nothing of the sort.
Rating: C+
Comments
Post a Comment