SYNOPSIS
The scares continue as recently uncovered VHS tapes from the late 1980’s show Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi’s (Jessica Tyler Brown) first encounter as children with the demon that would tragically shape the outcome of their respective lives, as well as that of their loved ones, just over a decade later in 2005.
CRITIQUE
Here’s what I wrote about this one in October of last year:
“Paranormal Activity 3 sets out to explore the whys behind the events transpiring in both of the previous found-footage Paranormal Activity thrillers. It takes the two protagonists back to their adolescent days, showing how Katie’s friendship with an imaginary friend wasn’t as innocent or, for that matter, as imaginary, as her disbelieving mother wanted to think. It’s another low-budget, high-concept excursions into shock horror filmmaking that once again uses the audience’s imagination against them to produce a wild flurry of shrieks and scares.
Low and behold, even though the idea has been more than a wee bit run into the ground at this point this tacit still works for the most part, a lot of what transpired during this prequel sending shivers up and down my spine. I jumped more than once, and I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end throughout the majority of the middle act. The two child actors at the center give believable, unsettling performances I complete bought, and the reasons behind Dennis’ incessant filming aren’t as incredulous as I anticipated them being.
But there is a been there-done that piece to all of this that is unavoidable, and the first time we find ourselves watching night vision footage of both the master bedroom and the children’s room I couldn’t help but let out a little knowing giggle. On top of that, as we are now in the late ‘80s, and as a great deal of the climax involves a character running around carrying a camera, there comes a point where the fact they are still filming and not just hightailing it the heck out of dodge as fast as they can becomes kind of silly. I part of me wanted to start screaming at the screen calling the photographer an outright idiot, and no matter how shocking or unnerving the footage might be the simple truth is that anyone with even a half an ounce of sanity never would have recorded it.
But I do give Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish) some credit. They’ve taken the Paranormal Activity concept and run with it in their own vividly imaginative direction. Returning screenwriter Christopher Landon’s script is surprisingly witty and filled with some innovative ideas. There are some seriously unsettling sequences, I can’t decide if the best one revolves around a seriously freaked out babysitter or involves Dennis’ best friend and assistant talked into playing an impromptu game of Bloody Mary, and by and large it avoids many of the inherent pitfalls of the prequel. Most notably, it avoids heading towards a preordained denouement, delivering a relatively surprising climax while also managing to setup the events in the other two motion pictures without compromising the already established mythology.
I’m not too sure where things can go from here, and my hope is that Paramount calls things quits and stops at a trilogy. Granted, I’m not holding out much in the way of hope that will be the case, these movies are far too inexpensive to make and bring in way too much in the way of box office, but a girl can still dream. Over familiarity with the scenario and the concept aside, Paranormal Activity 3 is a fitting conclusion to the story bringing things to a satisfyingly sinister full circle.”
It’s interesting to watch Paranormal Activity 3 first and then parts one and two immediately afterwards as it showcases just how strong the symmetry behind the trio of films truly is, the mythology created surprisingly solid and with very few holes. Like the other two, though, it doesn’t necessarily play as well the second time around, the scares seriously lessoned when you know they’re coming.
Still, for fans, this is another strong entry is in a shockingly successful – both box office wise and in regards to overall quality – horror series that shows no sign of slowing down. Unlike say the Saw, Halloween, Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, Paranormal Activity is a well-run franchise worthy of applause, this third entry a solid ones fans will want to add to their collections.
THE VIDEO
Paranormal Activity 3 is presented on a dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video with a 1.78:1/1080p transfer.
THE AUDIO
Paranormal Activity 3 comes to Blu-ray in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French, Spanish and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 and includes optional English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese and French subtitles.
THE EXTRAS
Like the previous films, extras here are pretty limited but do include:
· Theatrical Cut (1:24:08) and Extended Cut (1:33:59) – The Extended cut doesn’t improve upon the theatrical version, although those who complained about all the scenes in the trailer that were not in the movie itself will be happy to see some of the re-inserted here.
· Scare Montage (2:15) – A series of scares involving Julie (Lauren Bittner) and her wedding videographer husband Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith).
· Dennis’ Commercial (2:56) – Exactly what it says it is, this the long-lost commercial for Dennis’ wedding videography business.
The set also comes with a Digital Copy and DVD versions, while the Blu-ray itself is UltraViolet Enabled.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Obviously, the whole Paranormal Activity concept is getting a bit too familiar at this point, but that fact aside this third entry in the series is still surprisingly successful becoming one of the few prequels out there actually worthy of the time it takes to seek out and watch.
