Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 3

Oren Peli must feel like a million bucks. His film, Paranormal Activity, was almost never seen by general audiences. The former video game designer decided to get into movies, so he purchased a high definition camera and wrote a rough outline for what the film could be (these movies are largely improvised). He financed the film himself ($11,000-$15,000) and used his own home as the setting. The film was finished in 2007, but sat for two years before Steven Spielberg saw a rough cut and decided that this needed to be seen by the masses. Slam cut to October 2011 and we have the hottest horror franchise of the last decade about to unleash a third entry. By most accounts, horror sequels are merely quick cash-ins with little to no love for the audience (ie. Friday the 13th, Hellraiser, Halloween, etc). Paranormal Activity 2 seems to have broken that trend by proving that creatively and financially, lightning can in fact strike twice. As with each new entry in a series, there is always a question of, "can they do it again?" Not only is Paranormal Activity 3 a scary movie, but it tops the previous entry in just about every way.

Much like PA2, this film is a prequel. It goes even further back in time than the second entry by showing us the events of what happened to Katie and Kristi when they were kids. The girls live with their mom, Julie (Lauren Bittner), and her boyfriend Dennis (the immensely likeable Christopher Nicholas Smith). Dennis is a videographer, which quickly explains why we have so many cameras available to us right from the get go. Dennis manages to catch "something" on camera during a small earthquake, and wants to see if this is related to Kristi's new attachment to an imaginary friend, Tobey. What follows is a series staple consisting of several nights worth of footage that in the end tie most of the plot up.

PA3 is first and foremost a horror film, and it delivers some of the best scares in the series. This is in large part due to the oscillating camera that shows us the living room and the kitchen. What made this so genius is that it played the audience with each and every pan. You could hear the nervous laughter and feel the tension amongst the packed house. Several of the film's biggest scares come from this device. Of course, no PA film would be complete without expanding on the mythology. PA3 gives us a few more pieces of the puzzle as to why this is happening to just one family. I believe that the person who deserves the most credit for this is Christopher Landon, who wrote the last two entries. For him to craft these sequels around the first movie is nothing short of amazing, and I believe that he is the key to success for the longevity of this franchise. I also believe that when Paranormal Activity 4 is officially green-lit, he should be given a chance to direct it as well. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (who made last year's Catfish) also deserve a lot of credit for upping the stakes this time around. The pacing is faster, the tension is higher, and the characters are extremely likeable (which helps when you want your audience to care what happens. Take note, horror genre). The four principle actors (Bittner, Smith, Brown and Csengery) all do a great job with their characters, with the true stand out being Smith, who really comes off as likeable, especially in his scenes with his business partner Randy (a very funny Dustin Ingram). No Paranormal Activity movie is complete without a cameo from the beautiful Katie Featherston, who returns along with Sprague Grayden and Brian Boland from PA2, to open the film (albeit briefly).

My friends and I knew this movie would be huge when we arrived for the midnight showing. The film was proving to be so popular that the theater added four more additional showings that night to keep up with the demand. When all was said and done, PA3 had grossed $54 million in its opening weekend. This has become the highest opening for a horror movie of all time, and the highest opening for a movie in October. This franchise shows no signs of slowing down, and really, why should they? This begs the question: where do you go from here? PA3 gives a few answers, but also leaves a lot of questions to be answered in a future entry. Do we finally get the true sequel about Katie and Hunter, or do we do a sequel to PA3 that is set in the 90s. Either scenario works out well as the filmmakers have planted hints that could go in either direction, or a new one altogether. Regardless of what they decide, I think the people who make these movies have earned our trust that no matter what happens, we'll be leaving the light on.