Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 3

The first film scared the hell out of me. The second movie, though still at par in terms of suspense and scares, was an underwhelming rehash of the original. To my surprise, Paranormal Activity 3 ended up being possibly my favorite of the franchise. Yes, it didn't have the freshness of the original, but this was easily the creepiest of the three.

Everything that made the first Paranormal Activity was still here, from the slow progression of the story to the horrifyingly subtle build up of tension. The scares were, once again, well planned and it got to me on many levels. Nothing was revealed too soon and that actually made this whole franchise a lot more effective than it's contemporaries.

Also, there were some pretty excellent and clever techniques used to build the suspense in this film - which I really thought wasn't possible. I mean, the idea of the rotating fan stand with the camera planted on top of it was PURE GENIUS! There were some seriously and genuinely frightening moments as I wait for the camera to slowly move back to its original frame. Hate to admit it, but these were the scenes that forced my hands to cover my eyes in utter suspense. Haha.

Oh, and the characters were incredibly likable and charming. They weren't as stiff as the other leads from previous films and the kids were actually quite impressive. I was waiting for them to screw up with the acting, but they didn't. The kids really gave some exceptionally believable acting that added to the whole creepiness of it all.

Now, as for the end, I would say that it was surprisingly well executed that it somehow lost the "rawness" of the film. There were no break in the tension during the last 15 minutes of the movie, which was great - and yes, everyone were literally screaming very loudly throughout this part - but somehow, those scenes suddenly gave way to a couple of plot holes in terms of continuity. It's somehow a nonsensical ending, but whatever.

In a year where I felt bombarded by remakes of old movies and unoriginal premises, I was genuinely impressed by Paranormal Activity 3. It's unpretentious goal was to be an entertaining, scary horror flick, and it succeeded with flying colors. It's not a well-rounded or an intelligent movie, but I had a blast watching it with a crowd of equally entertained moviegoers, and for this type of movie that's what really matters.

RATING: 9/10