Paranormal Activity 3 Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

What You Need to Know: The next sequel/prequel of the vastly popular ghost horror series. Once again, this film takes us back into the past. The year is 1988 and we meet young sisters (Katie and Kristi from Parts One and Two respectively), their mother (Julie), and their step-father Dennis. Creepy noises and strange happenings ensue.

Also, if the trailer is what made you want to watch this, know this: many of the scenes of the trailer are either not in the film or changed slightly. In my opinion, that is a phenomenal idea because you get a sense of the film and what it is about, but the best scares are not spoiled in the trailer. In contrast, the first two films managed to use the climax for both of their trailers, respectively.

Technical Stuff: The films' director/creator, Oren Peli, is a master of building suspense to almost painful trepidation. I'm an avid fan of the more paranormal and psychological horror movies as opposed to gore porn such as Saw and Hostel. I understand the anticipation and timing of a good shock in horror films', but at several points in the film, Peli holds that timing a little longer. I found myself mentally calling the shock and then waiting just a bit more for it to come. What does that do to an audience? In those seconds, it makes the moment that much more uncomfortable and suspenseful before allowing for a release through scream or laughter. That scream or laughter is up to your personality. (I laugh.)

As made clear in the trailer, this sequel is another prequel and I was left apprehensive. At many points in the film, I am left wondering why are these people lugging around huge video cameras. Especially in the climax, this feels awkward and unnecessary. I forgave this in the first film due to the time period. It is set in the mid aughts ('06 to be exact). The YouTube generation was just beginning and users were posting some of the most mundane videos from life. The second film did away with most of the handheld by using security cameras mounted throughout the house, but strained the use of the camera in the climax. Now, the third film falls back almost twenty years. A MacGuyver'ed (actually referenced) fan is utilized for an interesting, if somewhat unbelievable, panning mount.

The prequel aspect also doesn't work due to story. I enjoyed the story building from the previous two films, but I felt it only worked to affirm assumptions of the past films. I'm more curious as to what has happened to Katie and baby Hunter. The end of this film feels inevitable, where the others were a bit more surprising.

Finally, I will return to the positive and say that the male lead is the most compelling of the three male leads. Micah, in the first film, is very cynical. He taunts the demon, and considers much of the activity a joke while Katie's fears intensify. In the second, Dan does not believe any of the ghost talk. He is a very caring father, but he ignores the possibility of a haunting. And when he finally believes, he decides to pass the buck onto Katie. Not the most heroic move, by any means. On the flip side of these two, Dennis is loving to Julie and the girls. He completely believes what is happening and actually spares Julie from most of the activity caught on tape.

In Summary: This movie is well-paced and extremely suspenseful. There are some moments that stretch suspension of disbelief very thin, but it still manages to raise hairs on the back of your neck. I would definitely suggest this film as a Halloween fright night feature, especially if you enjoyed the first two. The first film is the best of the three, but the third lives up to much of the hype.