Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

Paranormal Activity 4

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Overview: The series continues to get bigger and wilder with its complicated storyline, but PA4 veers from the tradition of the first 3 films enough to make it a genuinely exciting film to watch. It admirably avoids many of the downfalls that plagued Paranormal Activity 3.

Notice: No spoilers beyond basic expository information.

After watching the astoundingly terrifying Atrocious last weekend and being reunited with what true found footage film-making is all about, I was apprehensive about what Paranormal Activity 4 may be like. I knew it could never live up to the precedent so recently set by Atrocious. And sure enough, Paranormal Activity 4 is the least scary of all the Paranormal Activity films thus far. Never the less, the film really managed to impress me. I enjoyed it much more than the third film and I'm actually excited about seeing Paranormal Activity 5 next year (god willing). 

While PA3 was scarier, it was basically existing on borrowed ground. It retained the plot progression of the first two films while never even approaching the level of scares they achieved. So it felt like an exceedingly well-made Asylum film, the production values were good but it's a story you've already seen told, and told better. 

I read one review which stated PA4 is the first of the series to play it safe. On the contrary, PA4 was the first of the sequels to veer from the formula of the original film. When all you're dealing with is the demon, you pretty much know how it's inevitably going to end. After the first film you know pretty much how the demon operates and what to expect. But the fourth film enters a number of new elements which made the story's progression far less foreseeable, and for that I found this a very exciting film to watch.

The third film jumped the shark by injecting convoluted mythos into a series which had previously succeeded on a primal, intuitive level. But the fourth film transcended the misstep of the third by taking it even further and severing the series from its instinctual roots. In doing so it became something different entirely, and managed to be good on its own merits. No, it's certainly not as good as the first two PA films, but it was a very interesting movie, and it impressed me. I am actually really excited to be invested in the Paranormal Activity franchise again after the frustrating mess of misfires that confounded Paranormal Activity 3. 

At this point the Paranormal Activity mythos has become overwrought, bizarre, and a little bit nonsensical. But with PA4 it's finally reached that sweet spot where it's crazy enough to be interesting, without being too campy to take seriously. It's clear that the series will never return to the terror-inducing simplicity which made it famous in the first place, but that may be for the best, as it was never liable to recapture the spark of the first two films anyway. I'm genuinely excited to see it get even bigger and wilder as the film series goes on, because now I'm confident they can do it without pissing all over the franchise. It's gone into the territory where it's silly but still cool.

New Trailer: The River

A new found footage TV show?? With involvement from the great OREN PELI? And the venerable Steven Spielberg?? You can damn well bet that Found Footage Aficionado is excited!



According to the reputable Uncle Creepy over at Dread Central, the respective masterminds of Paranormal Activity 1 and 2 (Oren Peli and Micheal Perry), drafted the series together, which indicates it has a high possibility of being extremely fucking awesome.

The premise is a bit close to Cannibal Holocaust for my comfort, but I suspect there will be no unconscionable human atrocities (or cannibals) in this TV show. (Can you imagine a basic US network station showing Cannibal Holocaust? I think the Earth would implode). As entirely unlikely and preposterous as it would be, I'm crossing my fingers that our protagonists will run into Mokele M'bembe on their trip!

Paranormal Entity (2009)

Paranormal Entity

Rating: 2 stars out of 5.

Notice: No spoilers until noted.


Here we have one of Paranormal Activity's various mockbusters, films produced specifically to capitalize on a major picture's popularity. Generally their production values are low and their scripts are crumby, but I found this one at a used CD store and it looked so creepy, I just had to see it!

I can't say it was as good as I hoped, but it also wasn't as bad as I feared. The plot is fairly weak and it gleams most of its scares from Paranormal Activity (accomplished much less effectively here, of course). But it does get genuinely scary at a part or two, setting it leagues above other cash-in attempts such as Strawberry Estates (believed to have been an attempt at capitalizing on The Blair Witch Project).

If you're an absolute Paranormal Activity junkie, I could recommend this film after you've gone through the best found footage films. But before you go for Paranormal Entity, you may want to check out Lake Mungo. It's not as scary as Paranormal Entity -- it's more spooky and atmospheric than scary -- but it's a better film.

(SPOILER WARNING)

The early spooks were ineffective because they didn't show any scenes or lengths of time that didn't culminate in a ghostly occurrence. It would say "Night 1" and show something happening, "Night 2" and something small would happen, etc.

But as the film carries on, the scenes actually get more subtle and it becomes a occasionally scary. Maybe they were trying for the classic found footage build-up from mundane to terrifying, although that's a little more effective when you don't immediately start out with paranormal occurrences, instead starting out skeptical and then allowing terror to dawn on the audience. But the two scenes of the brother home alone, walking around the house in the dark, going from room to room.... is very creepy and much appreciated.

The movie does tend to drag after that, though. The point where they get so scared as to flee the house happens about half-way through, which should have set off the climax, but instead we're treated to half a movie of diminishing returns.

Naturally it doesn't expand much past what Paranormal Activity forged. However, the initial premise of the demon's interest being incurred first by the mother trying to write to her deceased husband, and instead end up corresponding with a demon, is pretty interesting and creepy. And *ehem* it may be a better premise than certain turns the Paranormal Activity series may or may not have recently taken.

Overall Paranormal Entity shows just how much craftsmanship is really in the original Paranormal Activity, crafting the plot and the scares so much more effectively than does this film. But Paranormal Entity has some good scares of it's own and it's a fun film to watch if you're an absolute found footage junkie like myself.

Why Found Footage?

Everyone has their own nightmares. To comment on what is or isn't "objectively" scary would be unthinkably dense. But I saw a comment on the internet that seemed to acely encapsulate the anti-found footage perspective. In regards to Paranormal Activity 2, someone said "A picture in the attic isn't scary."

Doesn't that say it all? There are some for whom monsters and bloody fight scenes are scary, and others for whom something ridiculously simple that seems plausible with sinister implications is scary, and then of course there are various shades in between. One ideology isn't more intelligent than the other. I consider found footage highly nuanced, but it's also extremely simple. I could outline the way to make a found footage masterpiece in about 4 steps, but that doesn't mean 90% of practitioners wouldn't still find a way to screw it up. Doing anything well is considerably difficult. Found footage is just another genre in horror, like slashers or monster movies, with a basic formula, transcendental examples and throwaway works. It's no more complex than a slasher, although for me personally it is far more compelling.

Found footage movies like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity chill my bones to an extent that no other type of horror movie ever has. For whatever reason, I find suspending disbelief much easier in these kinds of films. And, believe it or not... I find some magic in them. Yes, they're terrifying. But I'm also a stone cold cynic, and to be pulled so deeply into a fantasy world that seems so very real to me, it's like an affirmation that there is some magic in the world after all. It's grim, but strangely beautiful, like an ultimate dark fantasy. And, I mean, hey... it's fun to be scared!

I'm moved by aspects of subtlety, supposed realism. It's good, scary fun. I like movies where the action stays off screen most of the time. I like chilling settings and non-existent budgets and meandering dialogue with a very slow escalation of paranormal foreboding up until a conclusion that defines nothing but strongly hints at death. If this doesn't sound like you, you probably won't agree with my reviews. But at least you can get the low down on some found footage movies, maybe you'll like the ones I review poorly. ;)