Paramount have unveiled the official trailer for Paranormal Activity 4’.

I have always been an advocate of the controversial Paranormal films that have often had audiences divided with their popularity. The ‘Blair Witch’ style of filming has always been done to a high quality and their suspense inducing techniques has always got my adrenaline pumping. While they lack a tangible storyline, they have always engaged audiences on a level that other films haven’t been capable of.

The first film was a pioneering suspense horror and the second was an extension of the first with ‘Big Brother’ element. I have looked forward to their development of third person filming styles, no more than the last installment where I was excited to see the retro filming. Unfortunately the third film lacked the fear factor as the directors were determined to elaborate on an already ill-conceived narrative, instead of focusing on its trepidation techniques. The problem is, we all knew the story lacked continuity but it wasn’t significant because audiences weren’t watching this film for character and narrative development. They were looking for cheap thrills and to be kept on the edge of their seats.

Something I’ve always admired about Paranormal films is the use of 5:1 cinema sound system. They use the subwoofer, that doesn’t really create tangible sound, to vibrate the cinema to create anticipation. Sometimes rumbling the screen with no events just to tease audiences. The removal of this element in home sound systems really does take away from the suspense when watching the film on DVD and Blu Ray.

All that being said, what can be deduced from the upcoming Paranormal film based on the 1 minute 48 seconds taste we have?

The fourth installment has upgraded to the digital era focusing on social media trends, phone recordings and instant messaging. This is a brilliant development in my opinion, adding to the ‘Youtube generation’ we have developed over the last few years. Third person shooting is nothing new and has grown over the last few years with films like ‘Cloverfield’, ‘Rec 1+2’, ‘Forth Kind’ and ‘Diary Of The Dead’ to name but a few. Yet none of these films has really touched on the growing digital video trends. We all interact on a new level and this could be a resounding success if projected correctly in a film. My only reservation is what quality would these videos have on the big screen? Is the limited quality we receive over webcam’s and streaming really going to translate to the cinema?

Nevertheless this trailer, while less teasing than it former counterparts has watered the pallet and I am really looking forward to this new Paranormal venture. In theatres October 2012.

You Might Also Like...

Want to write about the stuff you're passionate about and have your work read by an audience of over 10 million a month? Click here to become a contributor.