Chris Blondell

The fourth installment from Hollywood’s new favorite franchise, Paranormal Activity, came out, and it looks exactly the same as the first three films. Picking up where the first two films left off (the third was a prequel), it seems as though scarily awesome screamer Katie is back, fully possessed, with her equally as possessed nephew to scare the hell out of a young, innocent blonde girl via turning lights off and messing with her Skype chat (how dare she?).

The Paranormal Activity franchise has taken Saw’s place as the yearly horror film to see in theatres. But while this franchise doesn’t appear to get bloodier and more twisted, it seems as though filmmakers are finding new ways to make turning lights off scary… I guess. But you have to appreciate that, for once, there’s a horror franchise that doesn’t involve serial killers, torture, scary little clowns, or predictably silly twist endings. Now there’s a cheap to produce, success guaranteed, horror that focuses on the things that go bump in the night.

As simple and as cheesy as this franchise really is, there is an evolution that doesn’t seem quite as outlandish as other franchises. Why is Katie being stalked by a demon? Wait, why is she kidnapping that baby? Why are those two little girls playing Bloody Mary in the mirror?! That game is scary! And now, it’s: Why’s it always gotta be the innocent blonde girl?

Regardless of what your opinion of Paranormal Activity is, this is sure to be exactly what audiences want and expect. There’s no gimmick, there’s no condescendence, and you’ll probably scream at least once. But that’s the fun of horror, no nonsense filmgoing fun best seen in the dark… which you’ll kind of have to do since theatres are dark most of the time.

Are you excited for Paranormal Activity 4? Or are you ready for this franchise to die? Let us know in Comments!

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