Paranormal Activity 4 2012

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: There's a point at which movies become only merchandise, and the Paranormal franchise may be heading for that nexus, that nadir. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Even for a something about supernatural shenanigans, this ending is embarrassing. Read more

Andy Webster, New York Times: The mood is often playful, with teases and fake-outs that are sometimes humorous and usually right before shocks. Violence is rare, quick and devoid of lingering close-ups. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: We're still seeing things through handheld devices and built-in laptop cameras, even though nobody seems interested in looking at the footage the cameras were supposedly recording. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: The mythology has deepened, largely to the negative, and the formula is as rigid as the fixins of a fast-food sandwich-tastes the same in every city. But the effects are eternally reliable. Read more

Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: Mostly, it plays like a overlong prologue for the already-in-the-works PA5. Here's hoping this is just the tension-racking lull before the next big scream. Read more

Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter: This once-innovative series rolls on without much regard for either plot or character development. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: This film's strong suit is that it finally feels contemporary. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The scares are hit-and-miss, but at least Alex and Ben are fun to hang out with. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There's nothing very new to the shocks. (Even the sound of them is the same.) Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Of course, a promise of more activity to come. But unless moviegoers think it's worth watching another whole cast of characters sleep while their furniture moves around them, only diehard fans will stay awake for that next entry. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: There is still activity, I regret to report, and none of it is of the normal variety. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: They could have called this Paranormal Inactivity. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's all faint-by-numbers this time, without even a cool device like the low-tech fan cam from PA3 to interest us or really scare us. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: There are at least a half-dozen or so decent jolts to be enjoyed over the film's running time, but prepare for a long wait to actually get to them. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The franchise that capitalized on the found-footage craze has gotten lost. Read more

Geoff Berkshire, Variety: Less reliant on slow-burn suspense and larded with fake-out jump scares, this is the first sequel in the series that fails to advance the overall mythology in any meaningful way. Read more

Chuck Wilson, Village Voice: Screenwriter Christopher Landon, along with co-directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, make a truly lame attempt at establishing a supernatural mythology to explain all this ... Read more