The Paranormal Activity franchise goes back to the beginning, depicting the origin of the hauntings that took place during the first two films. In Paranormal Activity 2, there’s mention that the “demon” disturbing a pair of sisters came about as a result of a pact made by the girls’ great-great grandmother. In Paranormal Activity 3, this origin story is changed a bit, with the girl’s grandmother actually belonging to a coven of devil worshipers (not sure if they are witches, although it’s implied) who use the demon as a pet, guardian, and enforcer.
The story once again focuses on sisters Katie (Katie Featherstone) and Kristi (Sprague Grayden), who appear at the beginning of the film during the timeframe of Paranormal Activity 2. The bulk of the tale centers on the girls as adolescents during the 1980s. The girls live in a really nice house with their mother, who is divorced and has a live-in boyfriend by the name of Dennis (Chris Smith), who coincidently is a wedding videographer and is obsessed with cameras.
Once again, a “demon” lives in the house, this time in a little access closet in the girls’ room. At first this invisible entity is playful with Kristie, the younger of the sisters, working to slowly win over her confidence. However, the demon is not friendly to others, including a poor babysitter who is tormented during one of the film’s more effective set pieces and even older Katie, whom the demon at one point hangs by her hair. Although Dennis captures these moments on tape, mother Julie remains skeptical, until the demon turns its attention on her.
The film then shifts into overdrive as the family flees the haunted home, arriving at the house of Julie’s mother. It is here that things go way over the top, as poor Dennis is menaced by a coven of scary-looking women and of course the demon which the girls call “Toby.”
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, Paranormal Activity 3 is perhaps the most well-made film of the franchise, borrowing from other ghost stories such as Poltergeist and the Amityville Horror. The shock sequences are effective, taking advantage of static shots and slow-moving pans to evoke suspense and true moments of bloodcurdling horror. However, the film’s plot falters, with its ending once again leaving room for another sequel.
For most of the film, the demon centers his attention on Kristie, yet during the final reel it is Katie who becomes possessed. In other sequences, the story seems to center on the possible murder of the parents by Kristie, with one scene even mimicking a sequence from the first film, but this story feed never comes to fruition either. There are also sequences related to Bloody Mary that go nowhere other than to create more scares that as a whole feel out of place.
And then there’s the film’s ending, which borrows from The Last Exorcism for its shocks. Some viewers may find a coven of witches bordering on the ridiculous, but the closing sequence is effective enough, just not satisfying as a conclusion to the film, which focused more on the haunting itself.
The same directors responsible for Paranormal Activity 3 are working on a fourth film, so the franchise shows no signs of slowing down. There are hints at possible threads to pull apart. For example, the film hints that the girls are to be prepared for some type of ceremony, after which their memories are erased. Perhaps the next film will explore what happened during that horrible night. Of course, the film could also explore what happened to Katie and Hunter, both of whom disappear at the end of Paranormal Activity 2.
The Paranormal Activity 3 DVD comes with two versions of the film, theatrical and unrated (director’s version). I recommend the unrated version. Film extras are sparse, consisting of a short “found footage” piece that is not really worth watching.
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