Fall First Look: Paranormal Activity 4

Now that it's September, that means we're only a month away from October and Halloween, and of course, that means we're closer than ever to the next Paranormal Activity installment. Ever since the original saw outstanding success, every year since 2009 has seen a brand new Paranormal Activity installment that takes the story to the next level. Each movie has gotten more and more inventive with the story, but the story takes a turn in this fourth go-round. Whereas each movie has progressed further in the storyline, 4 actually moves forward to 2011, five years after the events of the original Paranormal Activity. Just to recap, *SPOILER ALERT* the first movie ended with Katie killing her husband Micah, then, in Paranormal Activity 2, we found out that Katie, the same night, also killed her sister and brother-in-law and then kidnapped their infant son. After the third movie took some time to focus on the sisters' childhood, 4 takes place five years in the future and follows a young teenager, Alice, and her experiences with the paranormal, which begin, conveniently enough, when the new neighbors move into the neighborhood. New neighbors that are no other than Katie and her nephew! What could this possibly mean? Where does the story go from here? Certainly, fans are looking for answers to the series' unending questions, but it's uncertain if everything will be revealed in this next chapter, which may or may not be the final chapter (of course, no one actually knew about PA2 until after PA was a success, and likewise with PA3 and PA4). Still, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who directed the last installment of the series, are back again, but ready to bring the series into a new era. PA3 took place in the eighties, so alot of the technology was very outdated. However, putting the action in current time makes for more creative liberties, including webcams, as fans have already seen in the trailer that surfaced earlier this summer. Regardless, the quality of the films have never been at their forefront. Rather, because of their timed release with Halloween, the movies have become an event of sorts, driving massive audiences to the movie theaters in the first weekend. Paranormal Activity has certainly become a mega pop culture event and the trend will hopefully continue this fall (October 19th to be exact) with PA4. Check out the trailer below, but beware, it's got some frights! Let me know if you're excited for the next Paranormal Activity installment in the comments section below.

Evan