Paranormal Activity 4 is probably the weakest of the franchise (I haven’t seen Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones yet) because it makes very little sense, but the main character, Alex, an affable teenage girl, and her best friend who has a huge crush on her, Ben, are probably my favorite characters in the series. They are the nicest teenagers in the world. They actually like taking care of Alex’s little brother. When Alex’s parents are away, they don’t drink or do drugs or throw wild parties. They hang out with their friends, play video games and take care of little kids. They are also not idiots like Alex’s parents, figure out fairly early that something strange is going on and only become moody when their lives are objectively in danger. There are multiple video recordings and physical evidence that something is trying to kill them, but the parents just think Alex has lost her mind. Alex, call DCF or runaway to Ben’s house. You deserve better. Alex and Ben’s profane responses to creepy kid’s proclamations are the only thing that make sense in Paranormal Activity 4.
SPOILERS
Seriously the mother drugs Alex with a sleeping pill! Even the father thinks that drugging a teen girl is messed up. Alex nearly gets gassed alive in the garage and has to drive through the garage door to breathe. Where are the police? These parents take in some mysterious clearly evil kid based on the assumption that he has no family, but when a thousand people are parked next door after their normally affable daughter is screaming, “Robbie is EVIL,” you don’t go over & say, “Hey, anyone want this kid back?” And if you think that your daughter who formerly loved playing with children has now lost her mind, why would you keep leaving her alone with them. Hire a nanny or a housekeeper! Every room in your house has a Mac-splurge! The father nearly gets stabbed in the head by a knife and cowed by his snapping wife. Dude, suppose she is trying to kill you? It is too dumb for words.
Also if you were part of an evil coven that was wealthy & went so far as to kill your sister’s family to grab the most recent male heir, your nephew, how and why would you put him up for adoption in the system? And DON’T answer because he wasn’t ready for his demon audition because you could have just chilled and waited in your big suburban home with one of the hundreds of women in the coven if they were worried about Katie being caught. And DON’T answer so that he could infiltrate a family with an older child who happens to be the most innocent teen on earth and a virgin because that is too contrived. And why do they need Hunter if they have Robbie? Who the frack is Robbie?
Paranormal Activity 4 is guilty of stigmatizing adoptees as potential demon children of unknown origin. It is a cheap blow, but worst of all, it doesn’t make the story better, it makes it stupid. Whereas the prior installments were a commentary on family, abuse and privileging certain forms of testimony, Paranormal Activity 4 just gives up except for the lackluster moment about how it is a nice neighborhood. Too little, too late. Paranormal Activity 4 may have wanted to take a Valley of the Dolls approach to a suburbia that hides behind wine and prescription medicine to hide the psychological damage done in affluent homes, but it missed the mark entirely. It relies limply on some tropes started in The Shining and does nothing to further the genre or the franchise. At least the cat lives.
Also to annoy me further, there is apparently a post credits scene that is only available in the theatrical release, not the home video. You suck, Paranormal Activity 4, you suck!
