Paranormal Activity 4

[prettyxcool]

Did anyone else see this last night at the special screening at the Haymarket?

I arrived just before 7pm and already there was quite a queue outside on the pavement. Went to join the end and was told that I had to move to the other end of the queue, as had to leave a gap between the double doors leading into the entrance, which I dutifully did, after a while the rep told us all to move up to join the first part of the queue as they were going to film us and we had to scream when the camera came by. But then we were told to move back several steps, and she pointedly said to me several times to move back, which I could not as no-one behind me moved back, so if I did I would be trampling on top of them! I starred at her in confusion! In the end I joined a couple further down the line so the rep could stop picking on me! They then did about 5-6 takes of us screaming.

Finally, we went into the screening room, and I joined soonforgotten. Thanks soonforgotten, nice to have some company. Did not see any other FMUKers. It took ages to start as they were asking individually for people to move seats to nearer the front. They were filming the reactions during the screening,

Have not seen any other previous paranormal films so did not know what to expect, but the film was introduced and we were told it was 99% ready, so they could show it to us in it's entirety rather than clips as they had planned.

OMG, that was weird, like being a fly on the wall, watching the big brother house one minute, utterly boring, and an ominous silence, then noises, bumps and shadows in the night, that startles and did make me jump and gasp (but produced a lot of laughter from the audience), and a little boy that does not blink. The ending seems to have lost its way though. Not to over analyse it, but I was not too scared, but when I got home to an empty house, I did close all my doors and put all my lights on! 7/10

[spoiler]Felt a similar foreboding but not as much as after The Sixth Sense "I see dead people" - which affected me for days when I moved round my flat, and still do with a lesser effect now whenever I remember it![/spoiler]

[Jayman]

I'm sad to have missed this having quite enjoyed the previous 3 instalments - not so much for the movies themselves but rather for the audience reactions which were always plain friggin hilarious, especially when that eerie, rumbling bass is heard signifying the spirit's presence.

Movie experiences like these never succeed in replicating to the small screen.

[soonforgotten]

Colour me extremely unimpressed. I say this as someone who was surprised by how good the third one was.

http://londonfilmfanatiq.com/2012/10/06 ... ctivity-4/

[prettyxcool]

aah, pity I have not seen the third one or any of the others to compare it to.

Good write up though, soonforgotten, and well written. Presumably, as I have not seen any others, the scares are abrupt enough to make me jump, but there are too many long periods of silence to make the film scary, although those lingering silences and shadows are now getting to me when my house is silent!

So, perhaps, I am lucky enough not to seen the others to appreciate it, but probably not fresh enough or enough going on, for those that have seen the others, which is a shame, the makers seems to have got bored too, with an unenthusiastic and apathetic story, especially towards the end.

[Snowwhite]

saw this last night and the original girl katie showed up which i thought was pretty spooky, and they gave us all energy drinks which i thought was nice, probably as they didnt want us to fall asleep as it was late

the film was much better than the first 3, which were boring and not much had happened but this had alot more action, really did enjoy it

8/10

[Hsd24]

Quite a few famous people turned up which was a surprise e.g chipmunk, Asher d from so solid crew, Katie, think I saw Linford christie too lol. Film was good especially the end although it seemed a bit rushed. I still rate part 2 the highest and don't think part 4 had as much action as 2 or 3.

7/10

[ryu]

I watched this last night at Cineworld Haymarket. Katie Featherston was there and she gave a small introduction. The film had a quite a few suspenseful moments with some interesting lighting effects. I enjoyed it but I still like the first film best.

7.5/10

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

I didnt see it last night but I did go see it this afternoon as its out on release today.

Many of you know I am a health and fitness weirdo but what you dont know is that I have a fetish for recording my heart rates. Now I never thought of wearing the monitor while watching a horror film until just before I left work to watch this film. So here it is my heart rate while watching Paranormal Activity 4 :)



Two very clear freak out jumps. Then clearly in the last 20 minutes my heart was racing a little more but not quite peaking as much as those other 2 earlier peaks.

So, what did I get out of this, a good workout? Na, let me talk about the film.

I know that graph shows some heart rate elevations but this was overall very disappointing. I love the first and third films, especially the third which took the franchise in a new direction driving the mythology to the fore. This film ignores that progress and winds it back to the very stale and bare essentials. It starts fairly well and ends well but those are the only good points I'm afraid because dear god, the middle part, which is probably 2/3rds of the film, is the most tedious cinema ive had to endure for a long time. Its stupid, silly, slow and that other S-word.

The family and friends involved with the paranormal activities react with astounding unrealism. The script and dialogue is bad and devoid of any innovation.

What about the jumps and scares? Well I think I let the graph speak for itself in terms of the effective jumps...ie two in the first hour. There were more of course but all sign posted and ineffective. See, what made the first 3 films enjoyable was their building sense of dread, tension and chills. This film tries for that but mostly fails because the characters are too stupid to care for, the script benign and its all too predictable.

I still love this franchise, and I want it to go on and make progress with the storyline but they need to be made with enthusiasm and passion, not just for money which this entry clearly feels like. I like to believe they can still continue this genre with a fresh spin and innovation...or am i fooling myself? Has this genre finally wrung itself dry?

5.5/10 for the 2 jumps and a racy ending but I am dreading this film will kill the franchise (I hope not).

Oh there an end of credit sequence set in a supermarket...really pointless. It's supposed to be the teaser for a new spin off of Paranormal Activity but set in a Latino district. Which will be helmed by the director of Paranormal 2 and 3.

[FBS]

Another underwhelming entry into the franchise. Here's my review for it:

http://newempressmagazine.com/2012/10/i ... more-13874

[julieisbored]

Really enjoyed the evening. Freebies, photos and great banter whilst waiting for the doors to open.
I thought it was the best film so far.

7/10