Paranormal Activity 3 - Review

Hey! It's October, and that means two things. Halloween is around the corner AND a new Paranormal Activity movie is out (now taking the place of the once annual Saw series). I have to admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for these kinds of movies. If you're a frequent reader of my blog, you'll know that I'm a horror movie fan with a particular interest in ghost stories and haunted house movies. At the same time however, I've never cared much for found footage movies. Cloverfield was decent but not great, Blair Witch was overrated, and most others ranged from awful to meh. The original Paranormal Activity was probably the only found-footage horror film that I not only liked but thought was actually great. Sure, none of these movies are epic achievements in filmmaking or anything like that, but they basically deliver on what I expect out of a fun and exciting horror film for the Halloween season.

The first movie was a fun, suspenseful, and at times compelling ghost story that hooked you in with a spooky premise and delivered some memorable scares. The second film, while not as good or fresh as the first, was a surprisingly solid follow-up. It had more than a few faults, but the suspense was still there and it tied the story to it's predecessor better than expected. Does the third entry hold up or has the series worn its welcome?

Paranormal Activity 3 continues the series' chronological trend of going backwards in time. The second movie took place a few weeks before the first film while PA3 goes a couple decades back to the year 1988. Katie and Kristi (the protagonists from parts 1 and 2 respectively) are both young kids living with their mother Julie and their stepdad Dennis. Kristi (approximately age 5 or 6) has apparently made up an imaginary friend named Toby. While "Toby" seems like a harmless made up friend for Kristi at first, things start getting weird. Unexplained and seemingly paranormal occurrences start happening around the house, and the so-called Toby seems to be connected to them. Is he just a figment of Kristi's imagination or is he something else entirely???

I don't even know why I ended that plot description with a question. If you've seen any of the Paranormal Activity movies before this, you already know what's going on. There's an invisible demon that's terrorizing an unsuspecting family. He moves stuff around in the middle of the night, makes spooky and eerie noises, and on occasion attacks an unfortunate victim. This worked well in the first movie, using the"fear of the unknown" and "less is more" concepts to help the film rise above it's otherwise gimmicky premise. It didn't answer every question the viewer may have had, but it didn't need to. It stood on it's own quite well and didn't really need a sequel. This being a successful horror film, though, changed all that and a sequel came out a year after it's wide release to delve more into the mythos.

(I'm about to spoil the plots of the first two movies, but not Part 3. If you want to keep the first two movies a secret, skip ahead two paragraphs)

The first movie left most details about the entity in question under wraps. At first, the movie seemed like a simple spirit haunting... spooky and eerie but not immediately dangerous. After watching the camera footage, doing EVP tests, researching paranormal phenomenon, and conducting experiments, both the characters and the viewers learned that the entity in question wasn't a harmless ghost, but a malevolent demon bent on harming the innocent Katie. The only explanation as to why the demon was tormenting Katie was that demonic hauntings were totally random and that most of the time, they have little to no reason... a somewhat weak explanation I admit, but that didn't really matter because it gave us enough background to keep us guessing but not feel totally cheated out of an idea for what was happening.

The second film changed that a bit. It hinted that these hauntings weren't random, but they instead had something to do with their family's past. Apparently these paranormal visits were triggered by Katie and Kristi's grandmother, who made a deal with the Devil. This "deal" was only briefly hinted at from a few lines of dialogue, but no real insight or details were provided. This was the main problem with PA2 (this and that the movie was basically a retread of the first with a higher budget), it eliminated a lot of the mystery without providing any real closure. It still had some great scares and spooky moments but the ambiguity didn't work to it's advantage this time. I knew there would be more explanation in future sequels, but I still couldn't help but feel a bit cheated.

(Spoilers End here)

Unfortunately, Paranormal Activity 3 falls victim to many of the flaws of it's predecessors (especially part 2). It still feels the need to explain way more than it really needs to. The first 30 minutes were quite tedious. Treading familiar turf from the first two movies, the first act takes way more time introducing the characters and paranormal occurrences than it really needed to. I know this is a prequel and that this is (supposedly) the first time these characters are experiencing any ghostly hauntings, but the filmmakers really needed to put more thought into how the audience would have perceived the introduction. We know who Katie and Kristi are, we more or less know what the demon is capable of, and we are somewhat familiar with their backstory. I realize that some of the introductions were necessary, like the new characters and setting, but they still spent way too much time getting us reacquainted with what we already knew.

The second act was a modest improvement. This is where things were starting to get spooky and the suspense was slowly gaining momentum. Its still more of the same... the lights go out and shit starts going down. Still, you can't argue with what works. There were enough moments to keep me on the edge of my seat and deliver the expected though still effective jump-scare. I couldn't help but feel like many of these scenes were getting to be predictable, but I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't on edge or being caught off guard constantly.

The third act is where things really started getting good. I won't spoil what happens, but make no mistake that this was by far the scariest, most suspenseful, and best part of the movie. Again without giving anything away, it tries something different and unexpected while delving into territory that the previous movies hadn't gone to yet. Some of the ads and reviews have said things along the lines that last 20 minutes will "scar you for life" or be the "scariest thing you'll ever see." I personally think thats quite over-stated, I doubt you'll loose much sleep over them, but it's pretty memorable nonetheless. There is one thing about the last part that I absolutely hated... the ending! After this super suspenseful buildup and finale, the movie just cuts away to the credits while providing hardly any closure. The whole theatre let out a collective moan as soon as the credits started rolling. I know they're setting it up for another sequel, but to just end a movie with so much buildup and no resolution is basically giving the finger to the audience. They might as well have had a producer come out and say "Thanks for watching bitches! Paranormal Activity 4 next year... gimme your 12 bucks!"

There's not really a whole lot more I have to say about Paranormal Activity 3, at least nothing that I feel like I haven't stated before. In terms of it's merits of basic filmmaking, it's fairly solid. The acting is overall believable, with effective performances from child actors Chloe Csengery and Jessica Brown as the young Katie and Kristi. The sound design is still effective too, altering between total silence and jump-worthy shocks! Also, as I mentioned before, most of the scares are still quite effective. Not much to say other than that the pieces come together and the film works. That said, if you weren't a fan of the first two, I seriously doubt this one will change your mind.

There's a part of me saying that I'm going too easy on this film after being ticked off from the ending and the series' repetitive nature, but I can't deny that Paranormal Activity 3 delivered on where it needed to. That said, I must say that the series is starting to look a bit long in the teeth by now and that the gimmicky premise is really wearing out its welcome. I'm not saying that it can't get better, and I hope it does, but they're really going to have to rethink the direction of this series in order to keep it fresh. Nonetheless, Paranormal Activity 3 is a fun and spooky horror film, light on the gore but heavy on the scares and perfect for this Halloween. If that sounds up your alley, check it out!

My Score: 3 out of 5!