Paranormal Activity 3 Review

3rd time’s the charm for the “Paranormal” franchise and this one is a screamer.

It is that time of year again for the third time. Now what I mean by that is it is the week before Halloween. In terms of movie releases, that is the time that a movie created especially for the holiday is released. Since 2004, that slot has been filled with the Saw movies. But then in 2009 a small independent film called Paranormal Activity came out and caught everybody by surprise. The success of that film led to a sequel in 2010 and now in 2011 we have another sequel. To be perfectly honest, they keep getting better.

I am sure that everybody who has seen the previous two films by now know’s the whole story. In the first film, a couple are being visited while they sleep by an unknown entity. The boyfriend sets up a video camera to record what happens during the night. We all know how that turns out. In the second film we go back in time a mere few months before the events of the first film and are following the sister of the girl in the first movie. Pretty much the same deal happens to that family. Now of this new entry to the franchise, we go back further in time to the 1980s and are given a little bit more explanation for the supernatural occurances in the previous films.

The year is 1988, we are back in the age of the video cassette tape. The two girls from the previous films Katie and her sister Kristi, now both under the age of 10, are living with their mother Julie and her boyfriend Dennis. Dennis runs his own business of video recording weddings. Dennis begins hearing sounds throughout the house. Then one night during an earthquake he leaves his camera in the bedroom and actually catches the source that is making those noises. Determined to find out what is going on he sets up three cameras in the house. This way he can catch what happens in the house. During one night, Kristi wakes up and walks over towards the left side of the camera and begins talking. When asked about it she says that she is talking to her new friend “Toby”. You can pretty much assume what will happen next.

Like the second film they are stretching out the history behind the hauntings. But while that film had some good moments and some new information into the mythology surrounding the characters, that was not enough. Now I enjoyed the second film a lot. I don’t think it was as good as the first one, but it was still a very well crafted sequel. But this new entry is proof that sequels can get better is you have the right ingrediants and craft it correctly. Although it is worth mentioning that if you saw any of the trailers that were made for this film, you will notice a big difference with the final product. The trailers had a lot of shots that are not present in the final film. I am betting that they will be inserted into the DVD. So we will see about that.

This new chapter is an exciting and horrifically frightening entry to the franchise. The content of this movie outdoes the previous films combined. With that being said, I must forewarn you that the scares in this film are amped up to the point of the them happening at a nonstop rate. The scares are extremely frightening, to the point where they are borderline violent, and can be nightmare inducing. When all is said and done the film leaves you very satisfied and also very disturbed.

This is a great film. A very entertaining entry to the franchise takes the story into a new direction and actually explains more. But watch out because the final moments show a reason for the “activity” and it does leave the door open for further explanation. So with that being said I am predicting that on October 19, 2012, we will see a fourth entry. As mentioned before this franchise is getting better and I am anxious to see what else can be squeezed out this material.

My Score **** out of ****

By Adam Miller
Movies Correspondent and Associate Producer, The RPM Show