Parents' Guide to

Paranormal Activity 4

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Fourth in spooky series runs out of ideas -- and scares.

Movie R 2012 95 minutes
Paranormal Activity 4 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 11 parent reviews

Rarityfan
Rarityfan Adult
October 25, 2018
age 14+

Most wonderful time of the year

Halloween here we meet again. More spooks, stupidity and confusion than before. In consumerism lots of electronic toys for kids and adults. And for more consumerism you can emoty your account on Amazon with rows and rows of Paranormal Activitiy, Blair Witch wannabes whatever.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much consumerism
sarab2
sarab2 Adult
March 7, 2015
age 14+

not even scary

iffy for kids but overall this isnt even scary just falling objects and invisible movements like not even scary

This title has:

Great messages
See all 11 parent reviews

What's the Story?

At the end of Paranormal Activity 2, Katie (Katie Featherston) and her young nephew disappeared. In PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4, we catch up with a new family, a couple with a teen daughter, Alex (Kathryn Newton), and an adopted son, Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp). Strange neighbor boy Robbie (Brady Allen) starts showing up and hanging around with Wyatt; weird things start to happen, and Robbie seems to be able to see and speak to some kind of mysterious imaginary friend. Alex's friend, Ben (Matt Shively), rigs the family's computers (one in every room?) to record everything. Meanwhile, Alex meets Robbie's adopted mother, Katie, in the house across the street. What's going on here, and how is it connected to Katie's sinister past?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11):
Kids say (37):

The story here, hinged on one big twist, makes absolutely no sense, and whatever sympathy we used to have for Katie is now gone. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman -- who came up with some inspired ideas for Paranormal Activity 3 as well as making the unsettling Catfish -- can't seem to find a reason for Paranormal Activity 4 to exist.

The scares have also grown lazy. The nighttime sequences, usually reserved for the big stuff, are now tepid and disappointing, and the daytime sequences, usually reserved for rest periods, are now filled with silly jump-shock stuff, often having nothing to do with the paranormal (i.e., a cat jumping into the frame). Even the surveillance footage is haphazardly explained here, whereas in the previous films there was always a reason for it. The only interesting factor is that the film continues its exploration of "broken," and/or nontraditional family units. But sadly, that's not enough to recommend this tired sequel.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Paranormal Activity 4's violence, both implied and shown. Which kind has more impact? Why?

  • How scary was the movie? What scared you most, and why? How did you feel about being scared?

  • What would be the effect of constantly filming your life?

  • Is Alex, the teen girl, a role model? What does she do that's courteous and helpful, and what does she do that's not?

Movie Details

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