Flying objects, things falling from the ceiling—I feel like I’ve gone back in time to last October.

Paranormal Activity 4 was released Friday, and I agree with the first reaction of many: Why?

The movie begins with a very short brief on the first three films—each going further back in time than the before it. We see some clips of Katie (Katie Featherston) and her boyfriend from the first movie; clips of Katie standing over her sister’s husband moments before he’s killed in the second movie; and we’re reminded of the demonic woman cult from the third.

This time around, however, it begins with a completely different cast with some returning elements.

The movie begins with a different family than the last three movies, including a daughter named Alex (Kathryn Newton), who does the majority of the investigation of the activity, and her brother Wyatt (Aiden Lovekamp).

Wyatt notices a boy his age always appearing wherever he is, and the family later finds out the boy and his single mother live across the street. When the family is asked to house the little boy, Robbie (Brady Allen), for a few days, things take a turn for the inexplicably weird and creepy—even after the boy no longer stays at the house.

Yes, the movie did a very good job of scaring the living crap out of me, but was I impressed with the plot overall? Absolutely not. There was very little new information to contribute to the plot of the first three movies, and so much more could’ve been done in Paranormal Activity 4 to tie up loose ends.

For one, we never find out anything further than the third movie, as far as the demonic woman cult is concerned. We find out a few things about Katie and Hunter (William Juan Prieto), the abducted child, but we never find out what exactly is up with the group of women and the significance of it all. They just appear out of nowhere in Paranormal Activity 4, much like they did in the third movie.

The things you find out about Katie and Hunter aren’t even that prolific. Moments before the movie started, I actually called the entire plot of the movie. I’m sure you could, too. As a result, no doubt will there be a Paranormal Activity 5, which I personally think is overkill, and this movie was solely to capitalize on the whole Paranormal Activity movie phenomenon.

Don’t get me wrong, the effects are still marvelous considering the faux-documentary filming. As far as storyline is concerned, however, I’m not all that impressed.

3/5 Stars.