“Paranormal Activity 4″ is a prime example of why movies should stop after the second or third installment. This series has gone on for too long; hopefully after this fourth venture someone will get the hint that these “scary” movies no longer scare anyone. 

I think everyone can agree that the first “Paranormal Activity” was a hit. I remember going to see it at its midnight premiere. The big guy next to me continuously attempted to hold my hand out of pure terror. Another person threw up outside the theatre after the movie, supposedly out of fright, but feel free to speculate.

After the first film, I could not sleep alone for a couple of nights, but I slept like a baby after “Paranormal Activity 4.” It is by far the least scary of the four movies and is also the least gripping. The plot does not tie the four movies together whatsoever. The audience is left confused and, more importantly, not scared. The scare factor should be the focus of this series. When trying to fit in a larger picture or plot, the audience is left feeling like there was no significant ending and no reason in the least bit to feel frightened.

The movie starts off by showing the last couple of minutes of “Paranormal Acitivty 3.” Once again, the “home video” technique is used. This time, the person behind the camera is a teenage girl named Alex (Kathryn Newton). Her curiosity behind filming everything is never explained, and much of the filming takes place through Alex Skyping her boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively). Other times, when she hears something happening, she uses her iPhone. Once again, paranoia leads Alex to put up cameras throughout her house. This leads to panic as she and her boyfriend watch unexplained things happen. Worst of all, no one seems to believe her.

If there was one thing that I liked about the movie, it was the unexpected amount of humor in it. Considering it was supposed to be scary, I was not impressed at how calm I was during the entire film. However, the playfulness of Alex and her boyfriend flirting was funny and made me like the two together. I also liked the two little boys in the film, Wyatt and Robbie. Although the relationship was one that was meant to frighten viewers, it personally made me laugh.

I would give this movie 1.5 out of 5 stars. I cannot give it 2 stars because I would not watch it again and was not scared by it — and I am the type of person who is easily frightened.

Kelly Iverson is a sophomore in journalism and mass communications. Please send comments to [email protected]