Paranormal Activity 3By Wilson Morales
For a franchise that began at film festivals until it got picked up for theatrical distribution, the folks at Paramount are thanking their lucky stars that they have a winning formula with ‘Paranormal Activity.’
Just when thought that the “found footage” genre would be at old at this point after the recent box-office failures of ‘Apollo 18’ and other films, ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ is still making hearts pop out with the same gimmick they’ve successfully used in the previous films.
With the film’s two female stars Katie Featherston and Sprague Grayden, who play sisters Katie and Kristi, back for cameo appearances, the film centers of them when they were younger and first experienced or “encountered” other beings around them.
Backtracking to 1988, the film focuses on their mom Julie (played by Lauren Bittner) and their step-father Dennis (played by Christopher Nicholas Smith), who just happens to work as a wedding videographer. While the girls play at home and with their imaginery friend ‘Tobey,’ Dennis thinks that there more that any of them know when he starts hearing things when no one is around. Because of his trade, Dennis sets up cameras around the house with his co-worker to see if there are any sightings while they are asleep.
As days and nights go by, we (the audience) see occurrences that will make anyone leave the house, but Dennis can’t make out what he sees when going over countless hours of VHS tapes. With the arrival of the Julie’s mom, the story starts to attract cohesiveness yet holds back from a full explanation.
As Dennis gets closer on unearthing the myth behind the strangeness of unseen noises and sightings, we know where his fate lies if you have see the previous films.
Not having Katie or Sprague back may have been a turn-off for some, but directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who previously helmed the documentary ‘Catfish,’ stuck with the same game plan that have worked well financially in the previously films. The whole point is these films is to get one intrigued while making them scared at the same time.
While the camera movement gets tedious and repetitive as we see the time shift from 1am to 3am and so forth, it’s three and four “jump” scenes are effective.
If at this point you are going to see a third film of any franchise, then you are already hooked and know what to expect. It will either have you jumping in your seats or have you wonder why you bother to show up.
