"New house, new family... old resources"

Title: Paranormal Activity 4

Year: 2012

Genre: Horror

Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman 

Writer: Christopher B. Landon (written by), Chad Feehan (written by) and Oren Peli (characters) 

Runtime: 88min 

Cast: Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively, Katie Featherston, Allen Bradley, Aiden Lovekamp, Alexandra Lee, Stephen Dunham 

Produc.: Room 101 

Budget: $5 million approx. 

In Paranormal Activity 4, five years after the events of the second part, Katie and Hunter (now Robbie) have moved to another house. It will be their neighbors, across the street, who begin to sence a strange presence. 

The horror genre is the one that most suffers, and in an ugly way, because of the ambition of the producers.

If we thought of animation, with each new release, a viewer would hardly take the trouble of questioning it, either given their tendency to be better constructed, or because there is not so much prejudice here. 

Let us, then, go back to the other gender, and see what happens, in the same circumstances. It could be said that with this cinema, a same rule is, almost always, complied: if the first was successful, the formula has to be repeated until depleted. 

Precisely, Paranormal Activity 4 is an example of squeezing (lengthen) a franchise, until no longer made sense, but because the numbers achieved, satisfied. 

We first had Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah, and their problems with demons. 

We then had, and not to repeat, Kristi and her husband. 

Worn out the present, then the past would be resorted. And the events during Katie and Kristi´s childhood. With a very low cost of production and over 200 million in revenues, it was to expect, that this would not be the closing. 

And here, the matter. Anyone who thought that three movies would have already exhausted all the options, certainly had not imagined the plan B. 

PA 2 (2010) ended with a possessed Katie, abducting Hunter, his infant nephew, to disappear, presumably forever. On that basis we are later surprised, in PA 4, with their return, in a new house, and in Hunter´s case, with a new identity: his name, Robbie. Aunt and nephew are now no more than puppets of an evil being, and their neighbors across the street, the perfect prey. So when Katie is suddenly taken by the emergency, these neighbors will be the only ones for Robbie, with whom to stay. 

The leading role in PA 4 passes to adolescents. This time Alex (Kathryn Newton), the eldest daughter of Holly (Alexandra Lee) and Doug (Stephen Dunham), and his friend Ben (Matt Shively) are those who feel that something is wrong. It also changes, in a way, the how we see what happens, as the whole film is seen from the webcams of this family. 

When one night, Ben's computer, in automatic recording (without him knowing it), saves what it registered by his friend´s camera, soon they have material to have fun with... or be scared. Because to see Robbie get into Alex's room while she sleeps, can not be less than disturbing. 

Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp) and their visitor create a tenebrous bond, becoming the first, as strange as the second. Moreover, noises and things moving without human contact, are present in various parts of the house. As in the others, PA 4 also works a lot with the prolonged suspense, which precedes each event, but this time, without the same results. Attempts to scare us are in vain, because everything is now, very predictable. 

The idea of the relocated aunt and nephew is so contrived, that it is difficult to take it seriously. Above that, we see a child with another name, which makes no sense. 

My rating: 3/10

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