In 2009’s THE COLLECTOR, directed by Marcus Dunstan from a screenplay he wrote with Patrick Melton, we were introduced to Arkin (Josh Stewart), a comparatively innocent thief attempting to burglarize a house. Unfortunately, that home is simultaneously invaded by the Collector, a masked man who likes to wipe out a whole group of people in a short span of time via inventive contraptions. However, he always spares one to “collect,” torture at leisure and ultimately display for his own viewing pleasure.

Built on a history of neglect and family secrets, the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise has, until now and however unintentionally, managed to question why exactly we move to the suburbs. Peace, and quiet and family and freedom? The freedom from worry, from our childhood scars, from neurotically checking on the kids and from believing they might be getting into trouble when out of sight. Of course, kids get into trouble everywhere and in this series, they do it with demons.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 is the first film in the series to be as funny as it is scary, and that’s not a bad thing, as it seems to have been intentional, and was probably the right direction at this point in the franchise.

The title SINISTER sounds like INSIDIOUS, and the movie was backed by one of the same people and carries some of the same virtues. It also has a number of qualities that set it apart from its predecessor, and significantly above most run-of-the-mill modern horror fare.

One of the fun things about watching the multipart found-footage horror film V/H/S, for those knowledgable about its various directors but not about who did which part, is trying to figure out who was responsible for which segment.

RIGAMORTIS: A ZOMBIE LOVE STORY is a tongue-in-cheek musical romance set against the backdrop of a standard Romero-inspired zombie outbreak, and it’s…cute. It’s not really for hardcore horror fans, and anyone with an aversion to song numbers is going to despise it, but if winking sendups of relentlessly upbeat GLEE-esque revues are your thing, there will be much for you to like here. Like, but probably not love.

On the surface, COME OUT AND PLAY is simply a flat, soulless remake of one of the killer kid greats, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? Coupled with one-named director Makinov’s bullshit, it’s a joke.