Paranormal Activity began as an independent film back in 2007, and it was later discovered and released again in 2009 by Paramount Pictures. The movie instantly became a huge success and is now considered by many to be the best haunting supernatural film since Poltergeist.
Please be warned that there might be some potential SPOILERS within this review.
The next year, Paranormal Activity 2 shocked audiences as it continued the story that began in the first film, except that Kristi and Daniel are the ones being haunted instead of Katie and Micah. Audiences are treated to a great twist at the end of the film that makes the haunting that much more mysterious and learning about their past that much more important. Luckily, Paranormal Activity 3, a prequel to the series, can, hopefully, answer all of your questions the series has made you wonder since its release.
The newest film takes you back to 1988 to show the history of sisters Katie and Kristi. When a young Kristi starts talking and interacting with an imaginary friend named Toby, strange occurrences begin happening around the family’s home. The most bizarre occurrence happens when the girls’ mother and her boyfriend decide to make a sex tape. While a sex tape of your parents would be very disturbing for anyone, the actual scare for the audience comes when the couple leaves the room during an earthquake, and a ghostly figure appears on camera for the first time.
After returning to the house and reviewing the recording, the man of the house decides to take up an investigation and surveillance of the house similar to what you’re accustomed to from the previous films in the series. However, it is the 1980s, so technology isn’t as sophisticated as you’d find in the other two films. Not only is the picture quality in the film not as crisp as in the rest of the series, but the directors have to use all new tactics to have their characters capture evidence of a paranormal haunting.
One of the really interesting tricks this movie utilizes for scares is the camera attached to an oscillating fan. These moments in the film become tenser than previous scenes with a stationary camera, as you never know what’s going to be on screen when the fan rotates back around to the other side of the room. In fact, the only scenes that can match the level of anticipation of these moments are found in the ending and during a game of Bloody Mary in the girls’ bathroom.
The acting in Paranormal Activity 3 is the best the series has seen, and it features, by far, the most character development showcased in the three different movies. You really get a sense of what the girls’ lives were like before and during the events depicted in the movie, and you even understand what type of people the adults are as well rather than simply watching them slowly accept the fact that there are such things as ghosts. There is a lot of interesting backstory here, and while the film does leave you with new questions that you’ll want answered, Paranormal Activity 3 does a good job answering plenty of your older questions that you’ve been dying to find out.
The scares are somewhat questionable in this newest installment however. On the one hand, you’ve got some of the same types of scares that viewers have almost became desensitized to by the third film, but, on the other hand, there are a few new scares that will make you literally jump out of your seat. The new tactics used to record the events also ratchets up the intensity and suspense even if the scare isn’t always worth the buildup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90r3CnPI0AM
Final Opinion
Paranormal Activity 3 is a nice addition to the series that adds to the mythology of the first two films. While it doesn’t do enough new and creative things to draw in a new audience, fans of the other movies will love this prequel. With rumors of a Paranormal Activity 4 in the works, it seems that we have found one of the biggest horror movie franchises of this generation.
(7.5 / 10)
Good
(7.5 / 10)
