Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Theatrical Release: October 21, 2011
Blu Ray Release: January 24, 2012
Rated R
Review by James Klein
What seems to be the newest trend in modern films is the prequel. While the prequel is nothing new, it seemed to become a more popular trend ever since 1999’s atrocious Star Wars – Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (I really hate having to say “episode” when talking about these new Star Wars movies). Many films since have decided to go the prequel route rather than a straight up sequel. And like most sequels, the prequel doesn’t really add much to the original film. Did we really need Exorcist: The Beginning? Hannibal Rising? Dumb and Dumber?
Another trend that seems to be popular is the “found footage” movie. This too became popular (while not the first film – see 1980’s Cannibal Holocaust for a real horror film) in 1999 with The Blair Witch Project. The year has just started and already we have gotten a “found footage” movie, the mediocre The Devil Inside. So that brings me to Paranormal Activity 3, the “found footage” franchise that is a prequel to the events that happened in parts 1 and 2. Here’s the catch: Paranormal Activity 3 is actually not that bad. In fact, it is much better than the first two films.
Supposedly this family loved video taping everything they did. There is a box of old VHS tapes that contains a bunch of footage of the family that has now been haunted/possessed for many years now. The footage begins with a birthday party in 1988. Young Katie and Kristi seem to be happy and love their stepfather Dennis. Their mother Julie also seems to be happy with their life. Things seem to be hunky dory until young Kristi mentions that she has an imaginary friend named Tobey. When Dennis hears noises one day while video taping, he goes up to the girls room to see a small hidden door with fingerprints on the inside of the door. This is the start of something sinister and potentially evil.
Dennis and Julie one night decide to make a sex tape until they are interrupted by noises and then soon an earthquake strikes. As the two run out of the room, dust falls from the ceiling and just a quick outline of a ghost can be seen in their room. The next day when Dennis shows his friend Randy what he may have seen, Randy quickly agrees and helps Dennis set up video cameras around the house to see if any more strange occurrences happen.
This is where logic starts to go out the window. If you are a husband/father and you see your daughter get up at night to talk to something and see the babysitter get pushed by some unforeseen force, wouldn’t you think it’s time to get the hell out of the house? And why is Dennis not telling his wife what is going on? His reasoning is “she’ll be upset and freak out”. No shit! There are also long scenes of explanation that doesn’t explain why a camera is set up recording this. The camera would never be recording these things, especially in the garage where Dennis’s film equipment is kept where nothing has ever happened in that part of the house. While this bugged me, I was still interested in what was going on with these characters. Unlike the first two films, the male lead is not some abusive asshole or some schmuck; he’s actually a decent person who is trying to figure out what is going on in his house. The two young girls who play Katie and Kristi are also very good and can really play fear well. So well in fact that I wondered what the hell were the film makers doing to these kids to get such a good performance?
The climax of the film is a strange one. SPOILER ALERT! While I didn’t understand really how this ending was suppose to tie into the other films, I must admit the last 10-15 minutes scared the shit out of me. Maybe it was because I watched this movie at 1:00 am, alone and in the dark. But holy shit, when Dennis walks into the room with all the Satanists right in front of him, I jumped. And while I knew Katie’s face was going to turn into something when she was hiding by the stairs, I still felt my skin crawl. Now, was the Grandmother in on this? How did these girls forget everything that had happened to them? Isn’t the mother dead, because I thought there was a reference to her in the past two films which hinted that she was alive?
The blu ray for Paranormal Activity 3 looks fine. The picture isn’t going to ever look good being that the cameras that were used on this film were cameras that were used back in 1988 to capture that feel (too bad some of the characters looked like they were from 2011). Personally I think Paranormal Activity 3 would be best viewed from a VHS tape. The theatrical cut and the extended cut are featured here (I watched the extended cut) as well as three minutes of deleted footage which is really nothing to write home about.
While there are still problems, the movie works as a horror film. The characters are more fleshed out and likeable and new directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman seem to know how to direct horror. Their film starts off slow but quickly builds to a more satisfying climax with some decent scares. Even the “footage” seems to actually look like footage and not some camera set up perfectly at just the right angle to capture a ghost. It looks like these guys are returning for a 4th film, due out at the end of this year. I think it’s better to watch these movies at home…alone…in the dark.
Theatrical Release: October 21, 2011
Blu Ray Release: January 24, 2012
Rated R
Review by James Klein
What seems to be the newest trend in modern films is the prequel. While the prequel is nothing new, it seemed to become a more popular trend ever since 1999’s atrocious Star Wars – Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (I really hate having to say “episode” when talking about these new Star Wars movies). Many films since have decided to go the prequel route rather than a straight up sequel. And like most sequels, the prequel doesn’t really add much to the original film. Did we really need Exorcist: The Beginning? Hannibal Rising? Dumb and Dumber?
Another trend that seems to be popular is the “found footage” movie. This too became popular (while not the first film – see 1980’s Cannibal Holocaust for a real horror film) in 1999 with The Blair Witch Project. The year has just started and already we have gotten a “found footage” movie, the mediocre The Devil Inside. So that brings me to Paranormal Activity 3, the “found footage” franchise that is a prequel to the events that happened in parts 1 and 2. Here’s the catch: Paranormal Activity 3 is actually not that bad. In fact, it is much better than the first two films.
Supposedly this family loved video taping everything they did. There is a box of old VHS tapes that contains a bunch of footage of the family that has now been haunted/possessed for many years now. The footage begins with a birthday party in 1988. Young Katie and Kristi seem to be happy and love their stepfather Dennis. Their mother Julie also seems to be happy with their life. Things seem to be hunky dory until young Kristi mentions that she has an imaginary friend named Tobey. When Dennis hears noises one day while video taping, he goes up to the girls room to see a small hidden door with fingerprints on the inside of the door. This is the start of something sinister and potentially evil.
Dennis and Julie one night decide to make a sex tape until they are interrupted by noises and then soon an earthquake strikes. As the two run out of the room, dust falls from the ceiling and just a quick outline of a ghost can be seen in their room. The next day when Dennis shows his friend Randy what he may have seen, Randy quickly agrees and helps Dennis set up video cameras around the house to see if any more strange occurrences happen.
This is where logic starts to go out the window. If you are a husband/father and you see your daughter get up at night to talk to something and see the babysitter get pushed by some unforeseen force, wouldn’t you think it’s time to get the hell out of the house? And why is Dennis not telling his wife what is going on? His reasoning is “she’ll be upset and freak out”. No shit! There are also long scenes of explanation that doesn’t explain why a camera is set up recording this. The camera would never be recording these things, especially in the garage where Dennis’s film equipment is kept where nothing has ever happened in that part of the house. While this bugged me, I was still interested in what was going on with these characters. Unlike the first two films, the male lead is not some abusive asshole or some schmuck; he’s actually a decent person who is trying to figure out what is going on in his house. The two young girls who play Katie and Kristi are also very good and can really play fear well. So well in fact that I wondered what the hell were the film makers doing to these kids to get such a good performance?
The climax of the film is a strange one. SPOILER ALERT! While I didn’t understand really how this ending was suppose to tie into the other films, I must admit the last 10-15 minutes scared the shit out of me. Maybe it was because I watched this movie at 1:00 am, alone and in the dark. But holy shit, when Dennis walks into the room with all the Satanists right in front of him, I jumped. And while I knew Katie’s face was going to turn into something when she was hiding by the stairs, I still felt my skin crawl. Now, was the Grandmother in on this? How did these girls forget everything that had happened to them? Isn’t the mother dead, because I thought there was a reference to her in the past two films which hinted that she was alive?
The blu ray for Paranormal Activity 3 looks fine. The picture isn’t going to ever look good being that the cameras that were used on this film were cameras that were used back in 1988 to capture that feel (too bad some of the characters looked like they were from 2011). Personally I think Paranormal Activity 3 would be best viewed from a VHS tape. The theatrical cut and the extended cut are featured here (I watched the extended cut) as well as three minutes of deleted footage which is really nothing to write home about.
While there are still problems, the movie works as a horror film. The characters are more fleshed out and likeable and new directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman seem to know how to direct horror. Their film starts off slow but quickly builds to a more satisfying climax with some decent scares. Even the “footage” seems to actually look like footage and not some camera set up perfectly at just the right angle to capture a ghost. It looks like these guys are returning for a 4th film, due out at the end of this year. I think it’s better to watch these movies at home…alone…in the dark.
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