Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Ladies and Gentlemen…meet the heir to the Saw franchise’s "annual Halloween release" throne!

Just when you thought it was safe to video tape yourself sleeping again, here comes Paranormal Activity 3 from co-directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman just in time for the trick or treating season. The first Paranormal was genuinely creepy (director’s cut ending) and last year’s follow up was one giant remake/bore fest, so what could the new installment bring to our eyes that hasn’t been done two times already since 2009?

As we learn in the first couple of minutes, what we are watching in Paranormal Activity 3 are old VHS tapes from a box that Katie (Katie Featherston) gives to her sister Kristi (Sprague Grayden) somewhere in the timeline of the first and second films. Funny thing is that the sisters don’t remember half of the tapes they see labeled in the box, but soon after an earthquake, said box of VHS tapes vanishes from Kristi’s house. Dun-dun-dun!!! All of sudden, we are treated to a VCR blue screen, the menu’s play button appears, the familiar auto-tracking fuzzy lines begin to clear the image, and we begin.

Taking place in 1988, young Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) and Katie’s (Chloe Csengery) childhood moments are captured by their mom Julie’s (Lauren Bittner) boyfriend, Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith), on VHS, who they love and treat as their very own father…but he also looks like Howard Stern’s Baba Booey. Seriously. Kristi has an imaginary friend named Toby, our demon, which Julie and Dennis ignore until things start getting weird. That is when Dennis decides to set up two camcorders in the house and record everything, thus following the same formula as the film’s predecessors. At first, the hints of the demon’s presence are subtle until it escalates its threat but wreaking havoc. Even the film's effective comic relief uncle Randy (Dustin Ingram), who he looks like he was just booted out of the All-American Rejects, does not take Toby's examples of power lightly.

Sounds like another remake/sequel disguised as a prequel set in the 80's, no? Well...it is, but at least they added some scares and some techniques that kept you glued to the screen. For example, the oscillating fan swiveling with the mounted camera really implemented many suspenseful moments in a genius touch! The set design made for a perfect 80’s–looking house and other decade references like Teddy Ruxpin plus an argument for what the Back to the Future sequel should be called were nice touches. Sure these “old VHS tapes” look like the DV Pro format of the 90’s, but let’s suspend some belief for a film such as PA 3.       

  

As someone who hated the second one with a passion, this was a fun flick with some great jump scare moments. Now to warn you, you are going to get answers for some of the other films’ questions, but there are going to be more even questions left open in this chapter that will probably be answered next Halloween…just like Saw. The only problem for me was the ending seemed a little derivative off another one of these found footage flicks, but don’t all films copy off each other nowadays? Also, we needed more Katie Featherstone, who I am still trying to figure out why she is so alluring to me.

Someone in my theater was freaking out as we left, shouting that many scenes from the official trailer were not in this film. While he claimed false advertising, I just thought he was a cheapskate wanting a free movie pass for next time. I try to avoid trailers, especially for the PA series, because they usually blow their loads and show you all the scares, leaving me bored with buyer’s remorse for 90 minutes in the theater. When I got home and checked out the trailer on Youtube, that angry patron was 100% correct. What you see in the non-Bloody Mary/official trailer is like a completely different product and storyline from the actual film. Maybe the film makers did that in a response to people like me that complain about too many reveals in trailers (which would be hilarious to the umpteenth degree) or maybe there are two versions of the film floating around. Who knows? Guess it is just another marketing tool to get us all to buy the Blu-ray.
  

Here's an example of a scene not in the film. Teaser trailer only.

Look...it’s Halloween and horror films in the theaters are almost nowhere to be found. If you want to get some scares on a fun date night and you need to give the haunted hayrides a break, PA 3 will do it for you and might leave you intrigued to see next season’s follow up. Go have some fun and don’t expect either Citizen Kane or Citizen Toxie. At least go see it for the trailers of The Devil Inside and Chronicle 2012 on the big screen. And I hate to tell you, but the film’s already a financial success, so get ready for in the inevitable part four...and five...and six. Out of Saw's ashes, rises the Paranormal Phoenix! 

RATING:

Three out of 5 Oscillating Fans

Three out of 5 Creeper Santas

TRAILER (for some other version of PA 3?):