Movie review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (2011)

  

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3
Directed by:  Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
 
  
I went and saw PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 last week and I have had to do some thinking before I just threw my review together.  This wasn't a movie I just loved so much I had to tell everyone about it, nor was it a movie I just hated so much I felt the need to immediately post about it and let people know about it.   I ended up with mixed feelings about the film.  Overall, it was good and it is definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of the previous two films.  Here is the brief plot synopsis of the 3rd film from imdb.com:

In 1988, young sisters Katie and Kristi befriend an invisible entity who resides in their home.

HA!  I said it was  brief plot synopsis, didn't I!  Well, that pretty much sums up the plot, you know from seeing the other 2 films what the movie is about basically.   The film starts off kinda slow, but I remember the other 2 films doing that too.  Only small stuff happens at first, then it just gets crazier and crazier as the movie goes on.

I was afraid at first this movie was going to be just like the other two....when I saw the first door move by itself.  I thought to my self that we have seen this before, and was afraid we were just in for a retread of the past two films.   Well, with good and bad results, this was not a just a retread of the past two films.  PA3 amped it up a bit and went well above and beyond the story of the first 2 films.   This had mixed results for me. 

I knew this film was going to be different when I saw a sheet with what looked like a small child under it go into the kitchen where the baby sitter was sitting....but when the babysitter turned around, the sheet just fell to the ground as it nothing was under it at all.  I knew then that we were going to see more of the physical presence of the demon that was haunting the house.   

The filmmakers also introduced a new camera technique that worked quite well.   The Dad puts the camera on an old oscillating fan, letting him scan two rooms with one camera.  This was a cool idea and led to some great scenes, as just as you think you are about to see something in one room, the camera then cuts away as it pans to the next room.  This creates a very suspenseful aspect for us the viewers.

One thing that I didn't quite like about the film was the introduction of  the coven of witches with has something to do with the demon in the house, but the film never quite explains as to what they are doing and how they are involved.   I don't want to say much about this, as I don't want to totally ruin it for you if you haven't seen it yet, but this move seemed a little over the top to me.  

The film does contains some of the bigger scares found in any of the 3 films.  Kudos to the filmmaker for making this film goer literally jump in his seat...multiple times! 

I think this movie must be seen in a theater to really enjoy it.  I have seen the other 2 films both in the theater and they are so much fun when sitting in a crowd and witnessing people's reactions to the film.   PA3 probably got the best reactions for sure, and I went on a weeknight with in a theater that was probably only 1/3 full.  Yet we had some group of girls around us that screamed at the top of their lungs at 2 or 3 points in the film.   This really helps the experience of watching these films I think. 

Overall, I would recommend this for sure if you are a fan of the other 2 films. This is a prequel, so it is good to get some back story on Katie and Kristi to see how all this started.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 is playing in theaters now!

 
CLICK HERE to visit the official website and watch the trailer