Is Paranormal Activity becoming the new Halloween cash in?
There's a new instalment every Autumn. It follows the same template, based upon the same characters with the same editing and about 3% new storyline on each new edition. Sound familiar?
For those of you who never got into the Saw franchise (and who can blame you) which released 7 films in 7 years (1 scheduled for each Halloween), you'll be lucky enough to have avoided the lazy filmmaking skills from what originated as a great concept. Yeah, I love the first Saw film. A great film that keeps you guessing right 'til the end and to top it off, it was produced on a miniscule budget. Then a millions of dollars got spunked on the franchise, replacing the character development with character mutilation and gallons of gore.
Whilst Paranormal Activity 4 doesn't go quite to the graphic extremes of the later Saw expeditions, the studios did turn a low-budget and simple concept into something over-complicated and repetitive. I was a fan of Paranormal Activity, it was a great spin on the found-footage series taking some inspiration from previous hits such as Blair Witch and I did enjoy the sequel to an extent, mostly due to watching it in an empty house in the dark. From that point though, the series sky bombed.
I thought PA3 (which acts as a prequel to the series with Kristi and Katie's parents becoming the traumatised ones) was incredibly flaccid. The style of the previous films had become staple with a majority of the fear coming from the choppy editing to slight movements in elongated shots (I lose count on how many swinging chandeliers there is in the series now) and this is why I was bored out of my skull in the newest instalment. They also chucked in a load of new bullshit involving witches, which was overly irrelevant.
The new 'big thing' in PA4 is the now conceived concept that an Xbox Kinect camera can view the ghostly movements, so you're expected be on the edge of your seat every time the shot goes all green and dotty. But this is done so many times, and again - When the shot is elongated, somethin's gonna move. Ooooooooooooh. And who would guess that the little boy would really be the only one to notice? Or that the parents will turn a blind eye to the whole situation?
A lot of the film is documented through the various laptops in the house which are used to monitor any peculiar activity in the house (seriously, who would let their boyfriend monitor every room in their house, and themselves whilst they sleep) and this just really didn't work for me. The imagination has just become very mainstream, this is perhaps a series which could be implemented into a TV series but going to the cinema and watching this didn't seem right. It didn't feel like a film.
Additionally, there is SO MUCH filler to space out the 'safe' daytime scenes from the 'on-edge' night time ones. I appreciate that a continuous 90-minutes of jumps would be awful, but it really doesn't feel like there's any focus on anything going on other than the horror. There's no real side plotlines and I felt no emotional attachment whatsoever to any of the characters, even the lead Alex wasn't convincing.
However, you may ask why I went to watch this film if I had any inkling that the series would be going this way. Because it is a guaranteed scare, it's a sure thing. This film didn't really get me like the first two did, probably because I was so detached from it but there were a few jumps and that's what the series is all about. That's why all the trailers use the audience reaction tester screens in the trailer, people want to be freaked out by this film. I went with two friends who were terrified by the end, so it does the job.
My real beef with Paranormal Activity 4, is the lazy production standards. I'm bored of watching 2 minute long shots where there's a whoosh that lasts half a second. I'm bored of attempts to freak me out with a multitude of jump cuts which are meant to be okay as this is 'found footage'. I'm bored of people levitating around the house and being pulled backwards and having their necks snapped (well actually, that still remains pretty comical). I'm bored of bum-rumbling bass noises when something is supposedly about to happen. The truth is though, as long as people keep paying for tickets, the stale concept will continue to churn out. The question is, will it churn our longer than Saw?
VERDICT: If you're willing to pay full ticket price for a guaranteed scare this Halloween, this'll probably do the job. Just be prepared for the 5th and no doubt 6th instalments in years to come...
