When this movie came out, it felt like it was doomed from the start. By this point, everyone was getting sick of found footage horror flicks,and this was the fourth in the series, so it was in danger of simply treading the same old ground instead of showing us anything new, especially after the success of the third movie (which was the highest grossing out of all the films) it would seem that nothing could live up to that, so this poor movie had a lot of weight on its shoulders right from the beginning, which isn't really fair, but that's how it is with horror sequels in general and this movie in particular. Now that it's years later and I can watch the movie as-is, separate from all the hypr, I can see if I enjoy this movie on its own merits.
This movie introduces us to a new family from Nevada, unconnected to the other families from the first three films. This family has a mom, dad, teenage daughter, and six year old son. They seem like a normal everyday family, until the creepy new neighbors move in next door. the neighbors are a single mom and her six year old son. right from the beginning, there's something strange about them. The mother is hardly ever around, so the little boy, Robbie, spends a lot of time with the family's six year old son Wyatt. Soon Wyatt is acting strange, keeping secrets from his sister, and doing strange things, all spurred on by the encouragement of his new friend Robbie. The teenage daughter Alex is the only one who seems to think anything supernatural is going on, and she even tries to convince her parents that Robbie brought a strange presence into their house, but of course they don't believe her. Soon the creepy happenings start escalating, and Alex has to figure out a way to save her little brother before it's too late.
Any horror movie with creepy little kids is sure to be one that I like, and this movie has the incredibly creepy Robbie, who spends time with Wyatt and turns him creepy too, so we have double the little kid creepiness going on. It seems like it takes extra long to get this movie going, with not a lot happening, but once things start happening, it moves more quickly. There's a bathtub scene that is particularly effective (what is it about taking a bath that makes horror movies more creepy when it happens? Maybe the fact that we're so vulnerable in the bath or shower, while we're naked and we can't run away from whatever is chasing us).
I have to give orops to Alex, the teenage daughter in this movie, for realizing that something weird is going on way before anyone else realizes it. She spends most of her time being afraid and trying to convince everyone else there's reason for them to be afraid too. The actress, Kathryn Newton, does a good job with her role, making me care about her character. Katie Featherston is also good in her role as the creepy neighbor lady. The mom and dad are mostly clueless as often happens in such films, and I just got aggravated with them for not even trying to listen to their daughter when she tries to convince them that something is wrong. They just think she's crazy and dismiss her concerns that way. I have to say, this movie seems to move at a slower pace than any of the other films except part 2, which I also found boring. Once the spooky stuff finally Starts really going down, the movie isn't bad, but in my opinion it takes too long to get there. Overall this one was a letdown. The ending was ok, but it just takes too long to get there.
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