One of the primary faults behind “Paranormal Activity 4” is that it makes promises it just can’t keep. It swears new scares with the use of the kinect and light beams and doesn’t quite fulfill the potential for the plot device. It introduces a new protagonist, but never fully develops her. And most importantly it explains that it has all led up to this, but there really isn’t a huge development in the storyline. I’m still not sure why what happened happens at all, and what they’re leading in to, but according to Dreamworks, we have two more films left in this series, and more films with a Latin spin off that will likely continue the mythos well in to 2019. If possible.
Tag Archives: Suspense
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
In the first “Paranormal Activity,” director Oren Peli seemed to have a one off horror movie in mind, but did allude to a lot of back story during the film. We do know from the first movie that Katie had been suffering from odd hauntings all her life, and had blocked out a lot of her childhood leaving the door open for the mysterious demon to enter in to the lives of she and her husband Micah. “Paranormal Activity 3” ventures even further back and widens the scope of the narrative to explore the deeper mythos behind the series of hauntings that took the lives of Katie and her husband.
On Top (2012)
Whomever cast actress Nikki Estridge for the role of escort Adrianna is a genius. “On Top” is a short film that’s reliant on casting the perfect woman for the role of the insatiable and professional escort who is wholly unapologetic in what they do. Star Nikki Estridge is excellent in her performance as professional freelance escort Adrianna who strives in pleasing her clients and loves what she does.
12 Angry Men (1997)
The real reason to watch 1997’s remake of “12 Angry Men” is to see Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott share the screen once again as they did in the very entertaining remake of “Inherit the Wind.” This time Lemmon replaces Henry Fonda in the role of Juror 8 while Scott is Juror 3. For a film directed by William Friedkin starring twelve very notable and prolific character actors, this version of “12 Angry Men” is very vanilla and absolutely forgettable. Friedkin never quite opts for subtlety with this reworking of the stage play, so he walks around with his camera, and films the teleplay like it’s an episode of “Law & Order.”
Red Cloud: Deliverance (2012)
Sioux Cloud and Hezues R’s short “Red Cloud” is a film very much in the vein of “The Professional” and “Gone Baby Gone,” a short dramatic thriller that has potential to be a wider more full length story, in the end. “Red Cloud: Deliverance” is a very powerful and engrossing exploration of a man escaping his past and his demons, and in the process is confronted by a young girl facing her own demons on a daily basis.
Fireball (2009)
When I read the premise for this and discovered Ian Somerhalder was starring I was a little excited. I mean Ian Somerhalder as a bad ass fire throwing villain could be excellent, especially considering he has a knack for playing sharp villains. But then I learned that he’s merely the protagonist and we’re instead given a bulky bald muscle bound man who can throw fire, and I just settled on Somerhalder playing the hero. Fair enough. In spite of being derivative and feeling like a glorified television pilot, “Fireball” is a pretty solid action thriller that teams up genre actress Lexa Doig and television mainstay Ian Somerhalder as law officials who have to chase around a fire controlling maniac through the country and find a way to stop his madness.
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
We’ve all seen it so many times that I kind of get angry when a filmmaker sends me their latest horror opus and it’s comprised of the same premise. A bunch of teenagers have commandeered a cabin in the woods for the weekend, and decide that they want to get away for a few days of beer drinking and misdeeds of the sexual nature. While there they discover that the cabin houses a bunch of secrets that could be their undoing. And it’s all being manipulated by a secret government lab hidden underneath the cabin, manipulating every single moment of their weekend like a game of chess. Ah, but that’s not the whole story.