Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
Certified: 16
Duration: 93 minutes
Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively, Brady Allen, Aiden Lovekamp, Alexondra Lee, Stephen Dunham, Katie Featherston
KRS release

Paranormal Activity 4 was made on a $5 million budget and earned over $120 million, showing the franchise is still doing very well, even though the surprise element is now absent.

The audience knows what to expect as the original formula is still being strictly adhered to.

It has been five years since Aunt Katie (Katie Featherston) had been possessed and had kidnapped her nephew Hunter to then disappear.

The film follows a normal family that lives in the suburbs. The parents (Stephen Dunham and Alexondra Lee) are having marital problems and their daughter, 15-year-old Alex (Kathryn Newton), is worried for them. The other family member is Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp), who is adopted. He is lately being approached by a weird boy who lives in the neighbourhood named Robbie (Brady Allen).

When Robbie’s mother is hospitalised due to a mysterious illness, the family ends up taking care of Robbie. The latter has an imaginary friend who does not like all the house’s inhabitants, goes round on all fours and paints strange symbols on Wyatt.

Alex’s boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively) thus sets up webcams all over the place to watch out for strange and paranormal activity. Matters escalate when Robbie’s mother returns and the webcams will have a lot more to document.

The Paranormal Activity saga has developed in a better fashion than the Saw franchise.

Where Saw overdosed on the gore and torture, Oren Peli’s franchise has kept the same parameters and successfully pegged in its audience, who are curious to see what new events may be captured on that shaky camera.

I believe that rather than the scary elements, the film’s main selling point is the mystery element surrounding it – the allure of learning the truth about why this family is being targeted by cults and possessions.

The new element here is the infrared camera which adds a new dimension to the proceedings.

Paranormal Activity 4 is likely to please the fans of this low-budget but ultimately very profitable franchise and will also have them asking questions.

However, the main question one will probably ask is: what will the camera document in instalment number 5?