Paranormal Activity 3, as with the first two movies, allows audiences to disengage from adulthood and let even the tiniest movement in the dark, the hint of a presence hovering off-screen, scare the pants off of us. Even though we know deep down what to expect from this film franchise - audiences are fully aware of the setup at this point - it doesn't take much to make us jump. The Paranormal Activity franchise effectively taps into our primal fear of the dark in a way few other horror films have managed to do.
Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, directors of the controversial documentary Catfish, helm this prequel in which we learn about sisters Katie and Kristi's (played as adults by Katie Featherston and Sprague Grayden and as kids by Chloe Csengery and Jessica Tyler Brown) first encounter with the horrifying unseen entity that will terrorize them as adults. After a brief scene - setting up the events that will take place in Paranormal Activity 2 - showing Katie delivering a box of old VHS tapes to her sister's house (she's preparing to move in with her boyfriend, the poor guy who has no idea he'll soon be dead), the film goes back in time to 1988 and the creation of the VHS tapes contained in Katie's box.
The new man in Kristi and Katie's mom's life is a wedding videographer named Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith) who, after first trying unsuccessfully to use his video equipment to shoot an impromptu sex tape with Julie (Lauren Bittner), soon finds a better use for his talents. Not long after moving in, he starts to sense there's something weird going on in the house - doors slamming, loud noises, and the sound of footsteps are his first clues. Dennis also comes to believe that Kristi's make-believe friend might not be just the figment of a kid's imagination. He sets up video cameras in his bedroom and the girls room hoping to capture some of the nocturnal happenings. And, given this is a Paranormal Activity film, the cameras immediately pick up creepy events.
Paranormal Activity 3 is better paced than its predecessors and does a better job of developing the characters. The young actresses playing Kristi and Katie are terrific, as are the actors who play the parents. And the filmmakers were able to find new ways to incorporate the home videotaping concept into the story, with some of the most terrifying scenes coming from a camera jerry-rigged to an oscillating fan that rotates from covering the kitchen/dining room to the living room and front door.
Plus, Paranormal Activity 3 proves I was right in being freaked out by Teddy Ruxpin, so thank you Schulman and Joost for validating my fears.
Easily the most ambitious of the Paranormal Activity films, the basic premise of the series hasn't yet worn out its welcome with Paranormal Activity 3 providing even more frightening moments than 1 or 2. It's also infused with a much-needed sense of humor which, in its own curious way, helps to heighten the tension rather than relieve it between scary scenes.
Overall, Paranormal Activity 3 is a better film than its predecessors. The ending's a little bit of a letdown, but Paranormal Activity 3's still extremely effective at turning grown-ups into frightened children.
GRADE: B
Paranormal Activity 3 was directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman and is rated R for some violence, language, brief sexuality and drug use.
Theatrical Release: October 21, 2011
A final observation: I am left wondering why so many of the scenes from the trailer have been left out of the film. In particular, the trailer features an investigator who comes over to help the family, who looks into a closet and sees bizarre drawings and then is slammed into a table, and that character is completely cut out of the film. The trailer also shows scenes of the mother, Julie, which indicate she was - in at least one cut of the film - more of a believer in the fact something otherworldly was happening in her house. The trailer almost seems to be promoting an entirely different version of the film, with most of what's in it not actually included in the final theatrical cut which is kind of bizarre.
