‘Paranormal Activity 3’ continues to exploit things that go bump in the night
Not that you asked, but here’s my horror-movie rubric. If you can come up with a similarly interesting one, leave your thoughts in the comment field below.
Vampires … never scared of them, except in the original Nosferatu and Salem’s Lot. I’m growing increasingly tired of True Blood. I find the original Dracula still spooky. I think Let the Right One In and its American remake are some of the best movies ever made, no matter the genre. Don’t ask me about Twilight.
Werewolves … never scared of them, although always intrigued. I enjoyed Benicio Del Toro’s updated version a couple of years ago.
Zombies … brain-eating gets to me. I have been known to look away from the screen. I love the original Night of the Living Dead and its many sequels over the years. I party hard to The Return of the Living Dead. I can appreciate Zombi 2, although I am less impressed by other giallo gore-fests.
Homicidal killers … almost always get under my skin. Michael Myers being the top of the bunch.
Paranormal / spiritual phenomena … run for the hills! Help! Help! Help!
From The Exorcist to Poltergeist to Paranormal Activity 1 & 2, the idea of possession, whether demonic or otherwise, is one of the most frightening cinematic occurrences out there. With the release of Paranormal Activity 3, would my opinion change? Could I withstand all those things that go bump in the night?
Turns out the third entry in this successful franchise is just as creepily fun as its two predecessors. The low-budget, shaky-cam technique has been overused by directors looking for cheap scares and affordable budgets. For Paranormal Activity, it seems to work. Just leave your scrutiny at the door, and you’ll be fine.
The third installment serves as a prequel to the first two, and it continues the usual premise of nighttime video recording to see what’s going on in the house of Katie and Kristi, two sisters who seem to have the worst luck of any movie characters in recent memory.
The sequel follows the two sisters (fans will know these characters as grownups in PA 1 & 2), their mother and her live-in boyfriend. Being that this is a movie, all of the family’s actions are conveniently taped and broadcast to us, the paying public.
There’s not much characterization here. We know that Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith) is a wedding videographer, hence his love of taping everything in the house. We know that it’s 1988. We know that Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) are typical young girls, although Kristi has an unhealthily close relationship with an imaginary friend named Toby.
That’s about it.
The scares in Paranormal Activity 3 are similar to the first two. During the night, strange things begin to occur. Doors are slammed. Lights turn on. Attics creak, while bed sheets are tossed around. These movies are slow burns, taking a good chunk of exposition to find their footing and begin with the thrills. But when they do, watch out.
The last 15 minutes of Paranormal Activity 3 are intense and worth the wait. This achieves the same fright factor as the first two installments, and in some ways it ups the ante. Audience members are still left with many questions and uncompromising conclusions, but that’s the fun of these popcorn flicks.
I can’t fully recommend the film, because it doesn’t diverge much from the look, feel and plotting of the first two. Writer Christopher B. Landon, along with directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, would rather steady the sails than rock the boat. You can’t critique them too much: The PA scheme has worked wonders before, and if it’s not broke, why fix it?
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com-
Paranormal Activity 3
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2011
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Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
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Written by Christopher B. Landon
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Starring Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Lauren Bittner, Hallie Foote and Christopher Nicholas Smith
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Running time: 85 minutes
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Rated R for some violence, language, brief sexuality and drug use
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Rating:
