Paranormal Activity 4Movie Reviews

No
Avg. Critic Score: 40 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    Movieline |

    The film is heavily reliant on jump scares, but its best moments are the ones before them, when the tension builds without the benefit of escalating music to queue you in to the approaching shock. Read full review

  • 60
    Empire | Kim Newman

    Catfish pair Joost and Ariel Schulman keep the franchise firmly on track with a satisfyingly scary fourth instalment. Read full review

  • 50
    New York Post | Sara Stewart

    This is hardly reinventing the wheel, but it is serviceable, if you're looking for a few shivery communal scares. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    The ending steals actionably from "The Blair Witch Project," the movie that helped spawn these first-person chillers. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    There's virtually nothing new in the dull Paranormal Activity 4 except for a modification in the method of documenting the spooky shenanigans. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Adam Markovitz

    PA4 develops the story ever so slightly (not enough to satisfy fans) and delivers a few good scares (not enough to satisfy newbies); 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 full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    Fairly mild in tone and riffing -- if not quite ripping -- off a collection of horror classics that includes "The Shining," "Rosemary's Baby" and "Poltergeist," both the franchise's premise and its execution nevertheless remain rudimentary, with the narrative and character backstories representing more of a sketch than a fully realized vision of the supernatural world that Katie inhabits. Read full review

  • 38
    Slant Magazine | Chuck Bowen

    Paranormal Activity 4 sadly continues the series' downslide, most drearily with a mid-film twist that enables the filmmakers to go about essentially remaking the second entry. Read full review

  • 25
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    They could have called this Paranormal Inactivity. Read full review

  • 20
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    PA 4's best idea, besides reintroducing the slow-walking, statuesque Katie, is a strange video trick involving lots of little lights filling a darkened room. It's tough to describe, but the cameras, of course, capture a figure the characters can't. Read full review

View more reviews for Paranormal Activity 4 on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Fourth in spooky series runs out of ideas -- and scares.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Paranormal Activity 4 is the fourth in the spooky Paranormal Activity series. Violence is about the same as in the others: More is suggested than shown, though there are some sudden bursts of "demon" activity (i.e. characters tossed about and injured by unseen forces). A teen's neck is snapped, and there are some monster faces and a little blood (mostly in flashback). Language is a bit stronger in this one, with several uses of both "f--k" and "s--t." A teen boy and girl flirt mildly but mostly seem to be friends. An Xbox with Kinect becomes a major storytelling device. Teens who survived the first three movies might want to make it a point to catch this one, but it's becoming very clear that the series is running out of steam.
  • 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?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Bad things simply happen to good people in this movie, with no sense of justice or fairness.
  • rolemodels true1 Positive role models: A teen girl shows responsibility in her home, looking after her little brother and listening to her parents' rules and guidance. Unfortunately, this admirable behavior doesn't pay off.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: An evil, unseen demon pushes a boy underwater in the bathtub. A teen boy's neck is snapped. A grown woman and man are hurled around rooms, smashing up against walls and on floors. A teen girl is locked in a garage with a car engine running. Some scary faces/monsters are shown very briefly, and some blood is shown (mainly in flashbacks to the second movie). An ongoing sense of dread/fear permeates the movie.
  • sex false1 Sexy stuff: A teen boy flirts with a teen girl, placing his hand on her knee. Over a Skype chat, he asks to see her "boobie" (she refuses).
  • language false4 Language: "F--k" and "s--t" are used several times, mainly by a teen boy. Other words include "c--k," "hell," "bitch," and "ass."
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: An Xbox with Kinect is shown and mentioned several times and is part of the movie's design. A character demonstrates how it radiates pinpoints of light (sensors) throughout a room, which can be seen in certain conditions. Other products displayed in the background include Pepsi, V8, Popchips, and Jif peanut butter. A Prius is mentioned. The Google web browser is shown.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false1 Drinking, drugs and smoking: The father is shown drinking beer and wine while watching TV in one scene. The mother gives the teen daughter a sleeping pill, and the father argues with her about it.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Interview Dialogue: 'Paranormal Activity' Star Katie Featherston Talks Spirits and… Stealing? Paranormal Activity star Katie Featherston talks about the impact the horror franchise has had on her life, whether she believes in ghosts and her scary tendency to accidentally steal things.