Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/92111
Nothing Happens for an Hour Paranormal Activity (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS A trailer for A Haunted House is attached to Paranormal Activity 4 (88 minutes). Clearly, the popular franchise-inspired Marlon Wayans to write another horror parody. For this reason alone I am deducting a star before the film even begins. People of Earth, do you want films like White Chicks to be our cultural legacy? Anyway, here we are again. Amateur footage of vaguely scary stuff and rich, white idiots. Have I mentioned that this franchise has com- pletely run out of steam? The first movie worked in a big way, and the second movie wasn't bad. But at this point, the writers and directors can't even keep their stories straight. Katie (Katie Featherston) is hardly as missing-in-action as the previous films suggested, since she keeps showing up. Wouldn't her fingerprints give her away at some point? Not to mention the overuse of the recording conceit. It worked in #1 and sort of worked in #2, since it was so closely tied to the events of the first film. By #3 it felt forced, and inserting Web cams and cell-phone footage into the mix here just seems like pandering. The one cool part was the use of the Kinect as a sort of ghost- finding disco ball. The film takes place in 2011. Main character Alex (Kathryn Newton) is filming her brother Wyatt's (Aiden Lovekamp) soccer match. She accidently catches some footage of her parents sniping at each other, setting up a subplot of marital discord that goes absolutely nowhere. The next scene introduces boyfriend, Ben (Matt Shively), as Alex takes him to her tree house. I wonder what they were planning to do in that tree house? Too bad creepy neighbor-kid, Robbie (Brady Allen), is hang- ing out, being creepy. Alex takes Robbie home, but the next day ambulances appear outside Robbie's house to take Robbie's mom away, and Robbie needs a place to crash. Conveniently, that ends up being Alex's house, and her mom (Alexondra Lee) explains that there is no one else to take care of him since his mom has no relatives or friends and definitely doesn't belong to a cult of witches. Robbie instructs Wyatt on the best way to be creepy in a three way conversation horror movies, nothing is done anyway. The Web cams record progres- sively scarier events, and the film does eventually start to get interesting. But not interesting enough to justify the questionable logistics behind the foot- age. I just don't get how the laptop was turning on and off all night long without waking people up and getting its lid shut. And since the events of the film take place over several nights, and the person who is recording all the footage is getting more freaked out every day, wouldn't she have, I don't know, LOOKED AT THE FOOTAGE the next morning? Finally, and here is where it just falls apart completely for me, the very end of the film appears to be cell-phone footage. Why in the world would the main character be car- rying her cell phone in her hand instead of using her hands to throw things at whatever is chasing her? And how did she not drop it? Was the use of Velcro involved? Overall, die-hard fans will probably enjoy the last thirty min- utes. Just know that nothing exciting happens for nearly an hour. Now showing at Wynnsong 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Market Fair 15. HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. How To Find Network ATMs... With over 28,000 locations, it cannot be hard to fi nd, but here is how to locate a network ATM you can use for free! There are lots of ways... • Online - go to www.co-opfs.org and click on ATM locator at the top of the page. 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They are interrupted, but the invisible friend sticks around long enough to appear in infrared footage later that night. The next day, Alex and her boyfriend discuss technologi- cal stuff as part of a big reveal showing that Robbie snuck into her room while she was sleeping. The Dynamic Duo set Web cams on automatic record around the house to capture more images of their clearly traumatized and disturbed house guest. Perhaps, like me, you are wondering why Alex didn't just start locking her door at night, or inform her parents that the child they are currently responsible for is engaging in some seriously loud cries for help. Honestly, I'm pretty sure option #2 was exercised at some point but the first part of the film was so boring I lost track. Since movie parents never take their kids honest concerns seriously in