What most movie-goers preconceived as a sure-fire flop turned out to be probably one of the scariest movies of this horror-hungry gener– ation. Still giving me a hard time falling asleep, “Paranormal Activity 3” aces in sending a chill down your spine and overwhelming awareness of things that go bump in the night.
As the third installment of the series, this R-rated movie was released to theaters October 22, just in time for the Halloween season, to an overwhelming response at the box office. In fact, it racked up a hefty $54 million just in its open- ing weekend, a feat no other scary movie has ever accomplished.
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schul– man—the guys from the eerie “Catfish” docu– mentary—the film portrays the origin of the evil activity that haunts the first two through old videotapes of sisters Katie and Kristi in 1988 as children. The girls along with their
mother and her boyfriend are progressively tor- tured by a demonic being Kristi calls Toby. Af– ter earthquakes, late-night spooks, and a trip to grandma’s (wink wink), the last 15 minutes of the movie will scare the pants off anyone who dares to watch it.
Most often when a horror flick is made into a several films (eh-hem, the “Saw” marathon of a series), the original—almost always the best— loses its worth; not so with “Paranormal Activ– ity 3.” It delivers double the scares and moments that make you jump out of your skin even more so than the first two, leading the viewer to be- lieve that quality sequels and prequels do exist.
Since the first film’s release in 2009, these movies have set a new standard for scary movies. After the 1990s, the horror genre was in desper– ate need of redemption, and this franchise has certainly risen to the challenge. For one, they stand out among the gore-infested flicks nowa–
days that pride themselves on how much one person can bleed to death.
On its five-digit budget, this film as well as its two predecessors sure can throw a punch in quality effectiveness. While the past two have used either hand-held or security cameras, the third film gets a bit more creative with a make- shift revolving camera mounted on the base of an old oscillating fan, proving to be one of the most terrifying aspects of the movie.
This flick is packed with scares and spooks from beginning to end, and the other two shy in comparison. However, there were a few scenes in the trailer that did not make it into the mov– ie. For instance, the “Bloody Mary” scene in the trailer is child’s play compared to the actual one they decided to put in the movie.
Unfortunately, I feel almost inadequate to properly give a substantial review on this movie, considering I only watched maybe half of it with my eyes open.
Even this scary movie buff could not han– dle some of the suspense, and almost a week after seeing it, I still have to check behind my doors and make sure Toby is not hiding in my closet. That being said, I will definitely be seeing it again to get the full affect of this extremely well-done flick.
From me, “Paranormal Activity 3” gets a four-and-a-half out of five chips. Why not a full five? I am not terribly sure about the parts when my eyes were averted, but what I did see was phenomenally wicked.
If you love to be as scared as I do around Halloween or any season for that matter, skip the haunted houses and see this flick. Just be sure to check for Toby on your way home.
