2009 and was made for a mere $15,000, has grossed more than $193 million worldwide. “Paranormal Activity,” which released in Sept. Jason Blum, who has produced all four of these films, reminded us how to make a truly scary film as recently as one week ago with the release of “Sinister” (the best horror film of 2012 so far). We know the people involved with this film know how to do this right. “Paranormal Activity 4” plays to people who are unwilling to think, don’t want to or actually can’t engage a well-constructed and deep plot that delves beyond surface-level door slams and quick “boo!” scare-and-jump scenes. The shots show timestamps, so more than half the time as the film gets increasingly paranormal, you can unrealistically expect something to happen based on the fact that the spy cams are shown in the film at that exact moment.Īfter each scream setup, the film insults and mocks your intelligence. You may or may not scream and you may or may not feel a sinking in your stomach, but you laugh at the stupidity or the enjoyment of your own silly reaction even though you knew you’d do it each time. You’re looking for something out of the ordinary or ghostly, and then – bam! – something’s loud or fast or paranormal. The film uses simple setups for every scream: silence, little screen motion and you pan your eyes around. Alex is the only smart one to recognize it and try to fight it. So, it’s no surprise that Robbie brings with him the same paranormal activity we’ve seen three times before. While the fourth film reminds us of Katie’s (played by Katie Featherston) violent and paranormal murder from the third and her and nephew Hunter’s disappearance, you’ll never guess who mothers Robbie. After he gets settled in, Robbie’s often seen talking to himself or to malevolent spirits at 3 a.m. Robbie has nowhere else to go, so he shows up with a toothbrush, a very valuable antique fork (a plot red herring) and a stuffed animal. Now Robbie is forced by the trying-too-hard story line to shack up at Wyatt’s house for a few days because his mysterious mom allegedly gets sick and has to disappear. All the while, Alex is exploited by the “R”-rated film as – it has to be said – as “ PG”-rated jail bait. Ben is dating Alex in that “keep your bedroom door open” kind of way. His light-hearted, innocent character is actually enjoyable amid a story that shows very little advancement from previous themes. Matt Shively (from TV’s “True Jackson, VP”) plays Alex’s boyfriend, Ben. Kathryn Newton stars in “Paranormal Activity 4”. Robbie befriends Alex’s brother, Wyatt, who is played by the adorable Aiden Lovekamp. She knows something’s wrong with newcomer creepy kid actor Brady Allen (who plays Robbie), but of course, her parents are too busy and grown up to listen.

Newcomer Kathryn Newton (from TV’s “Gary Unmarried”) as Alex is at the center this time in a film that mostly uses the exact same formula. It’s actually an innovative and clever ghost-hunting tool that provides one ounce of novel filmmaking this time around. That’s then used in the film, of course, to pick up paranormal Boogeymen. But while viewing the room through a night-vision camera in green lighting, you apparently see the countless projection-tracking dots. When turned on and used normally, the Kinect just makes your body the game controller by tracking your movements. The only novel plot device used in the fourth film – though used too often – is the Xbox Kinect from Microsoft. CHICAGO – Following the first “Paranormal Activity” in 2007, which is most profitable film of all time based on return on investment, filmmakers Jason Blum, Oren Peli and Henry Joost have made a killing for Paramount Pictures.īut with one movie a year since the second one in 2010, these low-budget films with small casts and no-name actors are showing fatigue and that they are overstaying their generous welcome with Friday’s release of “Paranormal Activity 4”.īrady Allen stars in “Paranormal Activity 4”.

Paranormal activity 4 katie scene