**This post contains spoilers, including thoughts on the extended version**
The Story- In 2011, Tobi returns, targeting Alex Nelson (Kathryn Newton), her father, Doug (Stephen Dunham), her mother, Holly (Alexondra Lee), and her adopted brother, Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp) in their home in Henderson, Nevada. The paranormal attacks escalate, when a neighborhood boy named Robbie (Brady Allen) stays with Alex’s family, while his sick mother recovers in the hospital.
Secrets about Wyatt’s past are revealed, and the identity of Robbie’s mother and her connection to Wyatt. Piecing together a series of strange clues, Alex’s boyfriend, Ben (Matt Shively) helps her solve the dark mystery. Can Alex save Wyatt before it’s too late?
My Thoughts- Paranormal Activity 4 starts off with footage from Paranormal Activity 2. A lot of similarities for how both stories unfold. Alex is the big sister trying to protect Wyatt. The research with Brad, the risks, and Alex pleading with her father to believe her about supernatural forces. Ali and her boyfriend, Brad worked together to find answers in PA 2 to try and save Kristi and Hunter. Ali’s father, Dan dismissed the chances of any paranormal interference as foolish nonsense. The big difference is, when you compare him to Brad, Ben is far more involved and hands on with helping Alex (and he pays for it).
Alex, similar to Ali, is a happy teenage girl. Holly and Dan are going through some marital problems, but they both deeply care about Wyatt and Alex. The Nelsons are a likable family. But it’s hard to shake this feeling that they’re just disposable characters, with Wyatt being the lone exception, when his true identity is revealed. Ben is the goofy and persistent teenage boy, with raging hormones, and Brady Allen delivers most of the humor here.
Robbie is a smart ass, and to quote Alex, he is a bit “weird.” Robbie is an important character, a crucial lynchpin for the story. One Robbie scene that sticks out for me happens, when Alex is trying to play along with Wyatt and Robbie in Wyatt’s playhouse. Alex tells them she can see their imaginary friend (Tobi), but Robbie won’t stop giving her a hard time, because he knows she’s lying. It’s hilarious, when you stop and think about the whole scenario. Robbie is telling the truth, and Alex is unaware of the fact that she’s in the presence of a literal demon.
The scares and the spooky side for Paranormal Activity 4 really didn’t work for me. Sure, there’s the one creepy scene, where Tobi uses his powers to levitate Alex, while Wyatt watches in the background. Some decent comedy from the fake-out jump scares, but they’re also kind of predictable.
Everything else? We’re at a point in the series, where we’ve already seen creaky doors slowly opening and closing. Brief moments of Tobi appearing or flashing across the screen, and what was the point of the kitchen knife fiasco? Kind of odd to tease something that could possibly happen with the kitchen knife for so long, only for it to drop down in the middle of night to startle Doug. The chandelier falling and almost hitting Alex? Eh, it’s another problem with everything leading up to it being too predictable. And now that we’re four films in, it’s safe to say Tobi really hates chandeliers and light fixtures.
They relied on the XBox Kinect night vision with the tracking dots POV too much here. It’s a cool visual, when Ben first introduces it, but the Kinect trick slowly loses its wow factor throughout the movie. I can understand using it as a means to show ghostly figures and glimpses of what Tobi might look like, but I’ve always believed it should’ve been limited to maybe one or two scenes.
The story finally moves out of California, shifting to Nevada, but it’ll be hard to notice a real difference, or a change of scenery. Alex lives in a quiet and peaceful suburban neighborhood, similar to Katie and Kristi’s neighborhoods in the previous three films. Honestly, if they didn’t put Henderson, Nevada on the screen during the opening, it’s easy to assume everything is still happening in California.
Paranormal Activity 4 stays consistent with reasons for recording everything, or the need to record everything. Wyatt’s soccer game, the picnic afterwards, and you can also understand Alex and Ben are just two kids just having fun. There’s a logical transition for taking things more seriously, catching strange events around the house through Alex’s laptop and other cameras, because it’s clear Wyatt is in danger, and Tobi won’t stop until he gets what he wants.
So Wyatt is actually Hunter, and of course, Katie is his aunt. A surprising reveal for Wyatt’s true identity. Katie’s return towards the end? Remember, the movie starts off with footage from PA 2 showing Katie and Hunter as a baby, and Paranormal Activity 4 is a sequel to that film. At some point, you had to know Katie would resurface somehow here.
Some questions are answered. Now we know what happened to Hunter after PA 2, and obviously Katie was always lurking in the shadows to keep a close eye on him, continuing her purpose to eliminate anyone, who tries to disrupt Tobi’s plans. And Robbie’s house is clearly another base of operations for The Midwives.
Robbie? There’s a number of theories for him. There’s no definitive proof that Robbie is actually a real boy, or that he exists. When Alex spotted him at Wyatt/Hunter’s soccer game, he mysteriously disappeared in an instant. He couldn’t have gotten out of sight THAT fast. Katie, his “mother” gets sick. She’s rushed to the hospital, and Robbie doesn’t go with her? The police don’t intervene to look after him, so he just stays at the neighbor’s house? Robbie is unpacking, and his stuffed doll is one hundred years old? And let’s not forget about the special fork! None of that adds up.
Is it possible Robbie is a demon, who was either created by or sent by Tobi to befriend Hunter? A young child finding out he’s an important piece of a big puzzle involving the blood sacrifice of a virgin? That’s a heavy and traumatizing situation to deal with. Sending a boy his age to befriend Hunter helps ease him into the whole process, coupled with his aunt Katie, a family member he can trust.
There’s also the scene, where Hunter is talking to Tobi at night. Tobi is obviously trying to tell him his real name is Hunter, and well, he doesn’t want to accept that (“MY NAME’S NOT HUNTER!!”). If you look behind Hunter, you’ll notice the ghostly figure of a child following him. It has to be Robbie, right there with him, after Robbie lead him downstairs. Robbie completely disappears during the home stretch. The only answer I can think of is, Robbie served his purpose. He explained why Hunter was important, and introduced him to Tobi.
Mixed feelings on how the ending played out. Some creepy and tense moments, when Alex is trying to find Hunter in Robbie’s house. Doug is thrown around and rag-dolled through the house, while Alex chases after him. Katie SPRINTING towards Alex, as she transforms into her demon form halfway through was a fantastic shot. And a few genuinely eerie moments, including Hunter standing next to Alex with that blank look on his face, and the horde of Midwives slowly walking towards Alex.
My problem with Paranormal Activity 4’s ending is, looking at the big picture, Katie lunging at Alex (presumably killing her) with Hunter nearby, is a disappointing and predictable cliffhanger. If you leave out Hunter, there’s no reason to believe anyone else from The Nelson Family would survive, and Ben was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’re on the fourth film at this point, and they’re still teasing and setting things up that will eventually lead to something big with Tobi? Paranormal Activity 4 could’ve delivered something more concrete to close out the movie. Also, including PA 4, that’s three total films that end with Katie attacking or killing someone.
Hunter goes trick-or-treating and Holly makes Halloween cookies in the extended version! Hunter, wearing a ninja costume, goes trick-or-treating with Alex and Ben, and there’s a hilarious fake-out jump scare, where a neighbor dressed as a scarecrow spooks Ben. I’ve always wondered why they never included this in the theatrical version. Leaving out Halloween in a horror movie? I just don’t get it.
More extended footage includes Doug being an overprotective father, because he believes Alex’s costume is too revealing. This leads to Alex and Ben wandering over to Robbie’s house, where there’s an eerie shot of Robbie watching them through the window at night. Footage of Robbie moving in across the street is also exclusive to the extended version.
Night #8 for recorded footage is exclusive to the extended/unrated version. It’s more taunting from Tobi directed at Alex, and Tobi knocking that pesky book (possibly the Bible?) on floor.
You’ll see more footage from Halloween night, and Alex’s party with her friends in the extended version. And I’m guessing this was a slip up or an error they didn’t catch, but the location, month, date, and year isn’t shown on the screen at Hunter’s soccer game. Overall, it’s another case, where the extended footage doesn’t have an impact on changing the ending, or the direction of the story at all.
Two brutal deaths here. Tobi lifting Holly up, choking her in mid air, and that sickening thud of Holly’s body hitting the ground? Yikes! Katie using her signature neck breaker to kill Ben was a grisly sight. The sound of that loud crack, while Ben’s head twists around was something else. Ben’s death is very similar to Dan’s death in PA 2. Ben’s quietly sitting there. He senses something is off, but Katie managed to quietly sneak up behind him before he realized what was going on.
There’s no denying Paranormal Activity 4 hits a low point in the series. It’s the first film, where the formula for storytelling feels stale, because it’s easy to pick up on the usual patterns from start to finish.
The big return (Katie) had to be expected, and it’s an easy catch, if you pay close attention to the footage from PA 2. The reveal for Wyatt’s true identity is a nice surprise, but Paranormal Activity 4 lacks any real tension, and the scare tactics are too redundant. The unseen force (Tobi) dragging someone (Alex) across the floor or down a hallway is a horror movie scare tactic that’s been run into the ground. After four consecutive films, it’s safe to say Paranormal Activity relied on it too much.
To make matters, the story is just going in circles. Paranormal Activity 2 was largely a prequel, so it gets a pass, and Paranormal Activity 3 was entirely a prequel. Why are they still doing all these slight teases for revealing Tobi? There’s the one scene, where Wyatt and Robbie are playing a boxing game. Ben hints at the possibility of Tobi being used as an avatar in the game, a ghostly, pale white male. But that’s only an idea of what Tobi might look like.
Paranormal Activity 4 just feels dull overall. We already know about the witches, we’ve seen the symbol representing The Midwives, and we know what’s going to happen, when Tobi gets serious. PUSH the story forward. All the teasing, the hints, and the seemingly never ending cycle of setting up the story for the next film, four movies into any kind of series, just kills whatever kind of momentum you’re trying to build.
Look at the ending to PA 2. Then consider how Paranormal Activity 4 ends. Too much time passes between both movies. For some odd reason, they’re still only taking baby steps to the point, where it feels like they’re just milking the story to justify another sequel.
Rating- 3/10
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