Halloween Movie Month 2 [Paranormal Activity 4]

Like you probably just read in my Paranormal Activity 2, I do like the series. So when I heard Paranormal Activity 4 was coming out and saw the trailer for the first time I was kinda excited because it really intrigued me ever since the end of the third movie. Like with Sinister I basically just up and went to see this and I kinda liked it..sort-of.

We open Paranormal Activity 4 by learning that it is now November of 2011 and Katie and Hunter are still missing after the events of the first two movies. Alex (Kathryn Newton) is filming her younger brother's, Wyatt's (Aiden Lovekamp), soccer game. Back at their house Alex shows her boyfriend, Ben (Matt Shively),  her treehouse in the backyard. They discover the neighbor boy, Robbie (Brady Allen) in there for no apparent reason. They both think this is creepy as hell. Alex takes him back home and then later that night she sees and ambulance across the street. The next day Alex finds out from her mother, Holly (Alexondra Lee), that Robbie will be staying with them for a few days as his mother had to go to the hospital. Later that night, Ben and Alex find the two boys playing with the Kinect on their Xbox 360. Wyatt is sitting on the couch while Robbie plays with his imaginary friend. Ben turns off the lights and uses the night-vision to show them the tracking balls emitted by the Kinect. The camera picks up what looks like a figure sitting next to Robbie. At this point Alex becomes concerned and asks Ben to enable all the cameras on the computers in the house to record what is going on 24/7. With each day Robbie is over the cameras pick up strange things happening to the people in the house. Things happening to Alex, Wyatt becoming distant with everyone but Robbie and an increasing sense of tension between the family members. Robbie's mother returns home from the hospital and Robbie goes home, all while the strange things are still happening to the family. Can they be saved from what is now lurking in their house or they doomed to repeat the fate befell the others at the hands of Toby.

This movie is nice because it's different. Well not that different, but a family not related to to the one that's been terrorized for three movies is nice. The story is pretty nice compared to the rest of the series and the way everything plays out in a different manner is good to see they're not out of subtle nuances for the plot. I liked Kathryn Newton and Matt Shively as the two main people, as it the first time a younger duo is the lead in the series. With the younger kids playing their parts extremely well. As well as them [SPOILER] bringing back in Katie as the "hurt" mother [SPOILER] it was a nice twist in a series that doesn't have to many of them. The scares were, to no surprise, like the rest of the series all based on jump scares. Some were done well, with some being predictable. Though some of the people in the theater are less than antiquated with horror and still jumped and yelled. The innovation of using computers, coupled with the now infamous camera and the great use of the Kinect tracking balls, made some nice changes to the kinda stagnant filming style. Also like with the rest of the series it really starts to pick up at the end of the movie. Shit hits the fan and everything goes south in a very innovative-ish way. There are a few problems, you can tell the kids aren't well versed in acting, it felt a bit longer than the others (this was not even a director's or extended cut) and the ending was so sudden it left me saying "Whaaa"?

All in all this was a decent enough edition to the series while opening the possibility of a fifth installment. The acting, scares and plot were alright. While the innovative way of filming and the nice story kept things a bit fresh. If you don't like or haven't seen the series this isn't gonna make you a fan or open your eyes to the series. But if you are a fan this is a decent addition and reintroduces I'd say the favorite starlet of the series so far.

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Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #1: Halloween II

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #2: The Devil's Rejects

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #3: Friday the 13th Part II

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #4: Scream 2

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #5: Evil Dead 2: Dead Before Dawn

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #6: Trick 'r Treat

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #7: Planet Terror

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #8: SAW III

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #9: The Cabin in the Woods

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #10: Barricade

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #11: The Collector

Halloween  Movie Month 2! Movie #12: Hostel

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #13: Silent Hill

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #14: SAW IV

Halloween Movie Month 2! TV Shows #15: Community
Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #16: Scream 3
Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #17: Sinister
Halloween Movie Month 2! TV Show #18: American Horror Story
Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #19: Paranormal Activity 2

Halloween Movie Month 2 [Paranormal Activity 2]

So I'll admit it, I enjoy the Paranormal Activity series for whatever reason. The fourth movie which I got home from earlier will be posted after this is. I watched this earlier today partly to be familiar with the events leading up to the fourth, but also to review it as I've done one and three. I thought maybe I'd finally come around to liking it more than seeing Katie in her bikini.

Paranormal Activity 2 is a sequel set before the events of the first movie. In 2006 the Ray's home is "burglarized" where the only thing taken is Kristi's (Sprague Grayden), who just had a baby, necklace that was given to her by her sister Katie (Katie Featherston). Dan (Brian Boland) installs cameras around the house to make the family feel safer. Their maid, Martinez (Vivis Cortez), who now thinks the house has an evil spirit in it burns sage while the parents are out on a date, they come home and Dan is uncomfortable with what she is doing and fires her.  Their daughter, Ali (Molly Ephriam), begins to investigate strange goings on in the house and gets locked out one night investigating a loud bump she heard. Ali also learns that demons can make deals with humans by sacrificing their first-born son and realizes Hunter, the newborn, is the first newborn male in the family. These paranormal acts begin to increase in severity and the Ray family is tormented by an unseen force that seemingly wants them. 

This movie is still the weak-link for me for whatever reason. It improves upon the story and lore of the PA universe. Te acting is solid enough, the characters are relateable, and the scares work like with the rest of the movies. I can just never get into it. I will agree though that the end of the movie is good. Like with the rest of the series, everything fires up near the end in the movie and its well worth trudging through the slow pace of it all. 

This is a short review cause I don't have much to say about this. If you like the series you're gonna watch this. As I said it improved upon everything established in one, even if I can never get into it. The series, even at this point, is in a groove and really doesn't break new ground. It's a solid sequel to a good modern horror movie. Plus you know, Katie in a bikini.

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Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #1: Halloween II

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #2: The Devil's Rejects

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #3: Friday the 13th Part II

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #4: Scream 2

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #5: Evil Dead 2: Dead Before Dawn

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #6: Trick 'r Treat

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #7: Planet Terror

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #8: SAW III

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #9: The Cabin in the Woods

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #10: Barricade

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #11: The Collector

Halloween  Movie Month 2! Movie #12: Hostel

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #13: Silent Hill

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #14: SAW IV

Halloween Movie Month 2! TV Shows #15: Community
Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #16: Scream 3
Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #17: Sinister
Halloween Movie Month 2! TV Show #18: American Horror Story

Halloween Movie Month [Paranormal Activity 3]

Ok as soon as I saw the trailer for this I knew I was going to have to see it when it came out. Not because I'm excited for it. In fact once as Paranormal Activity 2, came out it turned the series into sort-of a joke for me. Cause if you follow this blog, you know I think Paranormal Activity, is a solid flick. This time it's an origin story as we go back to the late 80s and find out what little kid version of Katie and her sister Kristy from the first two movies have gone through. I fully intended to rip this movie a new ass-hole and make fun of it. But this was actually a solid attempt at a horror film. As with all the first person camera movies, there's no music, I'll say it does help build the scares. There's actually a semi-plausible plot in this film as well. The scares, well with the company I went with, were partly funny, but did a good job of being "WOW" moments. The acting was pretty bad, but I didn't really expect much going in anyway. There were a few humor parts that got a smile outta me, so I'll give 'em that. Things got going with about 20 minutes left, and I really liked the end part of the movie. The "Toby" moments were good throughout, but still the movie was too slow paced for my liking. There's a couple of "WTF is going on right now" kills in this too, which were pretty damn creepy and good looking to me. "Dat nigga Toby pulled that girls pony-tail and had her 6 feet in the air...Man, Toby, he's a G.", is what I heard from a black kid walking out of the theater, made this movie so much better as well. Haha. All in all this is a big step above Paranormal Activity 2 and it's probably as good as Paranormal Activity in my eyes. Which is a good thing. So if you liked Paranormal Activity, then give this a shot. You can definitely make fun of it throughout, but it's worth a viewing in my eyes. 

Halloween Movie Month! Movies #1/2: How To Be A Serial Killer and Red State

Halloween Movie Month! Movie #3: The Evil Dead
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #4: The Shining
Halloween Movie Month! {Bonus}: American Horror Story
Halloween Movie Month! Movies #5/6: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #7: Paranormal Activity
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #8: Scream
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #9: The Last House On The Left
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #10: Scream 4
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #11: The Blair Witch Project
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #12: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #13: Final Destination
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #14: House of 1000 Corpses
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #15: Halloween
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #16: Friday the 13th
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #17: A Nightmare on Elm Street
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #18: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Halloween Movie Month! Movie #19: Shaun of the Dead
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #20: Resident Evil
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #21: 28 Days Later
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #22: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Halloween Movie Month [Paranormal Activity]

Now as much as I make fun of this movie and rag on the series, when I first saw it I actually liked it. Paranormal Activity follows the story of Micah and Katie. They're a couple and they've been together for three years. Recently, in their house, strange things have started to happen. Footsteps, whispers, etc. They call in a psychic who deals with ghosts, but it turns out they have a much bigger problem. A demon. I'd usually start by talking about the music here. But there is none. Unless you count the shitty guitar playing or the TV running at the beginning. But I understand, it's mockumentary horror and it's not really needed. The scares are very heavily relying on you getting into the little things and then when the big things starts you're already freak out. It does a good job of this. Oh look keys on the floor. Oh look, the door moved an inch. Oh shit twenty minutes before it's over stuff finally starts and you're pissing. The acting is what it was. Micah (Micah Sloat) is the immature unbelieving jock-like partner of the Katie (Katie Featherston) who has had the demon following her her whole life. I was hesitant to write a review (like this) cause I thought it'd turn into me ragging on the film. While, for me it's pace is to fucking slow (too much unneeded talking and a couple of very cut-able scenes), and (all three) endings are bad/predictable, it's undeniable that people love these flicks. It also helps that I live Tweeted and made fun of it as I went. Now that I've seen it four times and all three endings, it's still only okay. I'd REALLY like it more if it were stand-alone and Paranormal Activity 2 wasn't a shit-fest. But give it a try. I'm not saying it's total garbage, but it's definitely not one I even imagined myself watching four times by now. Oh, by the way, in Paranormal Activity 2 (I'm not reviewing this month), Katie is in a bikini. 'Nuff said.

Halloween Movie Month! Movies #1/2: How To Be A Serial Killer and Red State

Halloween Movie Month! Movie #3: The Evil Dead
Halloween Movie Month! Movie #4: The Shining
Halloween Movie Month! {Bonus}: American Horror Story
Halloween Movie Month! Movies #5/6: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho