Film Review: Paranormal Activity 3

Last year, when I reviewed Paranormal Activity 2 (see here for that), I deemed the sequel 'unnecessary' but did concede that the effective jumps from the original were still there, but maybe not in as high a volume.

The same can be said for the installment in the series, but while the jumps and tension are still there, the film starts to drift further and further away from the original. Which is a shame considering how well the first two gelled together.

The film starts in 2005 with camcorder footage of Kristi (the sister from the second film, again played by Sprague Grayden), still pregnant and decorating the room for the forthcoming baby. Her sister Katie (Katie Fetherstone) shows up, asking if she can use some basement space for some boxes, one of which contains some home movies from when they were kids. Soon after this, Kristi's place is 'robbed' and the box of tapes has gone missing. Cue the video...

A very pristine looking picture on the video too, considering it's supposed to be from a camcorder circa 1988, but never mind. The video is being shot by Dennis (Christopher Nicolas Smith) who is dating the sisters mum Julie (Lauren Bittner.)

Not long after Kristi (played as a child by Jessica Tyler Brown) starts talking about her 'invisible friend' Toby, and all sorts of strange occurrences start happening.

As with the first two films, most of the films tension comes from the nighttime footage (even though the video tapes have to be changed every six hours, but they still manage to capture everything, very convenient), with cameras in the master bedroom, the sisters room and one that is mounted on a fan (which seems to me like the kind of thing Sam Raimi used to do!), so a full view of the kitchen can be achieved.

It's actually the fan-cam that gets the most tension of the film, as it slowly (painfully so at times) pans from left to right and back again. In fact one moment with the camera and probably the oldest 'ghost trick' in the book gets one of the biggest jumps of the film, even though you see it coming a mile off.

As I said, there is plenty of jumps and tension, but what about the plot? That's where the side is let down unfortunately. To give the filmmakers credit (and we will get to them shortly) an attempt is made to explain why a demon is terrorizing the sisters in the first place, but that reason is pretty weak, and I've seen it before. Very recently, too.

But the whole film just seems like an excuse to do it all again, and it does mostly work, but at the end of the day it is just a money making sequel. And money it has made, much like the business PA2 did last year, the third chapter opened in America at $54 million in the first weekend, making it the largest opening weekend for a horror movie. Ever.

So, as with last year, a sequel is inevitable. The fact that the film cost $5 million to make, and has made back over ten times that in the U.S. alone pretty much secures that fact. It's a huge money maker, and I can't see them stopping making them until they stop generating cash. But the more they make, the further away from the original they will become. I can even see the films focusing on different characters and plots altogether in the future, and why not? It works, and it may not be the worst idea in the world to move away from the current characters.

A quick word about the choice of directors must also be mentioned before I get to the all important rating. You may remember back in May I reviewed a film called Catfish (see that here to jog your memory), which was a documentary about Facebook purporting to be real, but there was a lot of debate whether it was real or not.

The directors of that film, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman directed this newest installment of Paranormal Activity, and it really begs the question about Catfish all over again. It seems quite suspicious that they are now making a fictional movie based on 'found footage', after making a 'documentary' that many thought was staged . At the time I thought Catfish was crazy enough to be true, but I'm having second thoughts about that now...

***
More of the same, with great tension and plenty of the jumps everyone expects. But the plot is wearing thin, and the explanation for the demon was weak to put it mildly. Things need a change up to keep the franchise rolling.