There Goes the Neighborhood: Paranormal Activity 4 Trailer

© Paramount

Don't look now, but October is only two months away, and you know what that means: another Paranormal Activity movie! We're up to 3 5 4 now, and Paramount has just released the first trailer. There's no official plot synopsis yet, but here are some things you can cull from the trailer (MODEST SPOILER ALERT if you haven't seen the other movies):

• It takes place five years after the events of the first two films (i.e., in 2011).
• It appears that demonic Katie and her (seemingly also demonic) nephew Hunter have moved into a new suburban neighborhood.
• The film seems to focus on their neighbor's teenage daughter, who senses that something's not quite right with the new family next door. So basically, it's Paranormal Activity meets Disturbia.
• Webcams!

I consider myself a PA fan of the series and think it's done as good a job as any horror franchise at maintaining a consistently high level of quality, but for the first time in the series, this trailer leaves me flat -- for a number of reasons:

1. The acting doesn't feel very natural.
2. There have been so many "found footage" films trying to cash in on the PA phenomenon that nothing here feels fresh. The webcam thing has certainly been done several times already.
3. The bad guys this time around appear to be flesh and blood, removing a lot of the sense of mystery.
4. The "teen girl in peril" starts to feel like a bit too clichéd of a setup.

Hopefully, Paranormal Activity 4 will prove me wrong when it hits theaters on October 19. At the very least, lowered expectations may help me be pleasantly surprised.

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