There are certain franchises that stay afloat purely on the strength of the first instalment and the makers of Paranormal Activity see no reason not to cash in on this, individual storyline and innovation be damned. Yes, Paranormal Activity 4 finally made its way to our theatres last Friday, and if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s what you’re (not) missing:

The movie opens with a brief clip of Katie Featherston carrying her nephew Hunter to the middle of nowhere and the action then shifts Nevada where we are introduced to the Nelsons and their teenage daughter Alex and six-year-old son Wyatt. When something happens to the single mom who lives across the street, her creepy son Robbie comes over to stay until she's out of the hospital.

However, Robbie’s arrival awakens the animated nature of the house furniture; kitchen knives skive about happily, basketballs ominously roll down the stairs on their own and the chandelier decides to detach itself from the ceiling. Determined to get to the root of it all, Alex and her conveniently tech savvy boyfriend Ben, set up laptops around the house and thus ensues the tediously familiar Night #1 routine.

Which brings us to our point: It has hardly been a week since Paranormal Activity 4 released, and critics have been through it with a fine toothcomb and found it wanting. “There's virtually nothing new in the dull Paranormal Activity 4 except for a modification in the method of documenting the spooky shenanigans,” slammed one critic, while “Paranormal Activity 4 is listless, dreadful and boring that lacks specificity or scares. Time to turn the camera off, guys,” wrote another. We, however, raise our hats to the sheer brilliance of the creator of the series – Never before have we seen such a cost effective excuse for a film. Don’t believe us? Get a load of this:

Every film of the franchise painstakingly follows the same storyline. Family moves in, realises that the doors swing shut a bit too fast and decides to set up 24X7 surveillance to investigate the self-shuffling furniture.  And thus, we are treated to the same plot, movie after movie. For all we know, they probably don’t even bother hiring a scriptwriter and just refer to part one when in doubt.

The movie itself is shot handycam style, ruling out the need to invest in expensive camera equipment. And in spite of the fact that it belongs to the horror genre, the movie lacks a visible monster, ruling out the cost of hiring costly graphic designers. Indeed, the first movie was shot within a week on a budget of $15,000. All the makers have to do is ensure that there’s an instalment out very Halloween to lure gullible cine-goers. And this time too, the formula has worked like clockwork; Paranormal Activity 4 grossed $63,597,000 in the first week itself.

Bottom line: If you’re stuck at home this Halloween and are looking for a not-so-spooky film for family viewing, Paranormal Activity 4 is the film for you! However, if you are an avid fan of supernatural thrillers, stay miles away from this one; it’s all occult inanity and the climax a blatant rip off from The Blair Witch Project. These two combined may sour your taste for horror movies permanently, so consider yourself warned!

MTV Rates: 2/5