Paranormal Activity 4: 7 Reasons It's Killing Modern Horror

6. It's Consumerism Gone Mad As alluded to in the introduction, Paranormal Activity has gone well beyond a film franchise - it is now a phenomenon, which is a remarkably valuable market position to be in, and one that will guarantee that the franchise will trundle on, even beyond the inevitable day it hits 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Money makes the world go round, even more so when that world is Hollywood, and unfortunately, as long as there is money to be made from the franchise, and audiences will respond by paying for tickets and putting backsides in seats, Paranormal Activity will continue to be made. That is regardless of the critical reception, or of the damaging effect sequels have on the franchise or the genre, or any of the other concerns I've already outlined, and it has everything to do with the way this fourth film is being marketed to potential audiences. Traditional films will show teasers, trailers and TV spots, and while Paranormal Activity 4 did release trailers, the single biggest marketing ploy used to sell the film was an advert that turned the camera on test audiences and more explicitly sold the experience of the film, as opposed to the film itself. It was a genius ploy, showing young audience members cringing in their seats and shrieking in response to the obvious untold horrors the film had in store. Only, the film doesn't have the capacity to evoke those reactions, apart from perhaps in the extremely infirm, and even then I would suggest the particular brand of manufactured jumps would wear off pretty quickly. That advert is irresponsibly offering an experience that most film fans won't have in the film, and presenting is as a certainty (given the fact that there are clearly no unimpressed cinema-goers with arms crossed and eye-brows raised), and the cheapening effect on the genre as a whole should not be under-estimated. After all, if a film that made those test audiences fall about, and looked like the scariest thing ever released had minimal effect on you, why would you go and see another horror?