A Colonial Forge Student Media Publication

Colonial Forge High School - 550 Courthouse Road, Stafford, VA

Colonial Forge High School - 550 Courthouse Road, Stafford, VA

A Colonial Forge Student Media Publication

Colonial Forge High School - 550 Courthouse Road, Stafford, VA

A Colonial Forge Student Media Publication

Colonial Forge High School - 550 Courthouse Road, Stafford, VA

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Paranormal Activity 4: A Bust or a Boom?

On Thursday, October 18th, the fourth installment of Paranormal Activity was released and there was by no means an empty theatre. Directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost have come back with yet another film and it has not won the popularity vote of the public so far. Expectations were set high for this film, due in part to the fact that this is the fourth movie in four years, but unfortunately, many moviegoers have decided that the found-footage, mockumentary movie installments have lost their spark and creativity that first had them intrigued from the beginning.

While the cast was excellent, delivering the usual believable acting that is always seen in the Paranormal Activity installments, the plot was banal and stale, leaving the audience with a major feeling of déjà vu. Much of the tension that this film provides dies after too many “false-scares” occur. Joost and Schulman missed numerous opportunities to petrify their audience members with sudden and unpredictable scares, even while providing loads of scenes with open doorways or dark hallways, leaving the audience to scan the background nervously.

There seems to be a Paranormal Activity formula: Slow start with a few joke-spooks, gaping doorways in the background of a dark room to leave your eyes darting in search of movement, and sudden, predictable scares of dark figures popping in view of the camera. The only noticeable differences from this film to the last three were the camera angles and filming techniques. Both directors did a very impressive job bringing modern technology into the movie in order for audience members to relate; one bright idea was to bring an x-box with interesting night-vision features to the screen. However; two teens carrying around cameras when there is absolutely no reason to? Not only would I call it cliché (especially for this film’s genre), but also lazy directing for Schulman and Joost.

Don’t be mislead; the movie was, by no means, a bad one. Many of the scares were genuine and the acting was, as usual, believeable. The beginning was a typical one for PA, but works every time. The opening scenes give the audience the necessary background of the family; how their house normally is, what should or shouldn’t move or make noise, etc. This opening is very smart so that when things do begin to go wrong in the film, the audience members know right away.

In comparison to the previous films, Paranormal Activity 4 didn’t come close in the Box Office. Raking in a disappointing $30 M during opening weekend, PA 3 almost doubled it with $54 M during it’s opening weekend, and even the less anticipated PA 2 did better, making $41.5 M over opening weekend.

Though this past Paranormal did not impress the critics or the returning audiences, Paramount Pictures has already greenlit a Paranormal Activity 5, which will be released around the time of Halloween 2013. Following shortly behind, the Latino spinoff of the Paranormal installments, “The Oxnard Tapes,” will be released, drawing in the attention of the Hispanic and Latino audience members. Paramount is not giving away information on this film until the directors begin filming, but the general idea is that it is will be very similar to Paranormal Activity.

Overall Rating (Out of 5 stars): ✮✮✮

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Paranormal Activity 4: A Bust or a Boom?