Paranormal Activity 3 Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: In this third installment, Katie and Kristi are first haunted by the demon as children in 1988.

Review: Taking a much needed leap beyond PA2, this film increases the scares and tension much more successfully to the point I feel it rivals the original. Now, this is not to say it is better, but I feel as though this movie could have stood alone from the PA franchise and still been good. In fact, it is the fact that it is a part of the franchise that actually weakens it. First, I love the approach to many of the scares as they tried to do things differently than the last two movies. The oscillating camera was perfect for creating anxiety as you did not know what would appear on the other side of the camera as it moved side to side. The scale of the scares was also increased as we see much more elaborate scenarios and special effects. Unlike part two, the pacing is better shaped to fit the escalating haunting, and it begins much earlier in the film. The acting is good and it did feel as though this was just some random family in the 80s. The flaws with this film come in the form of even more continuity errors, contrivances, and a cheap backstory that I don't feel fits the tone of the first two movies. Many of these problems are so apparent, that it virtually rewrites what we think we know about the story while not actually making any sense. So the girls' parents are dead and yet we hear mention of them in the first part. The girls' house burned down, but no mention whatsoever. Oh but that's okay, whatever you thought you know and whatever the characters said doesn't matter because we've introduced "brainwashing." Seriously, controlling someone's mind is not that easy even for a little kid. Plus, if that were the case, why leave them any memories of the demon?! The demon being controlled or at least working with some stupid witch coven is laughable. What exactly did the demon do for this coven, because some big houses and such are not all that impressive to sell your firstborn, male heir's soul for. And since we've gone beyond the great grandma making this "deal" why aren't the families of the other coven giving souls? Or have they and we're waiting for Paranormal Activity 10 for that story? Overall, this is a step in the right direction for this franchise clearly learning from the mistakes of part two. I do like that this could have been a stand alone film, but the ending was so dumb and hurts the film especially considering what we know so far about the franchise's plot. So, slightly below part one because of the ending, and much better than part two for increased and original scares plus severly better pacing and buildup.

Notable Moment: When the makeshift rotating fan/camera is recording the babysitter, and we see a sheet with human outline moving about.

Final Rating: 7/10