LRA writes: The way this series has moved back and forth in time has become rather convoluted and more to the point, silly (albeit fun) . The first film took place in the present day (for when it was released anyway). The second film took place before, during and after the events of the first film. The third film served as a prequel of sorts going all the way back to when the sisters were children. Now this fourth film takes us forward in time to see, "what the activity has led to". Any newcomers to the series will be hopelessly lost by this point, but even with that said, this fourth entry is probably the most accessible of the sequels simply due to all the fresh faces that get introduced this time around. None of that has any bearing on the film itself though, which unfortunately "Paranormal Activity 4" (PA4 from this point) shows signs that this franchise is starting to become a little too reliant on the same old bag of tricks.
