FILM REVIEW: Paranormal Activity 3.

I have to admit, I strongly dislike the Paranormal Activity series. I don't find them scary at all and I don't like that everything looks like it's been filmed on a family camcorder. I would probably have to say that this is the best out of all three Paranormal Activity movies, because at least this one gave me a couple of jumps, whereas I fell completely asleep in the other films. I don't know if I missed something, but I don't seem to recall 'Bloody Mary' appearing in this film as she did in the trailer. I found this thoroughly disappointing as that was really the only reason I watched this film. The Paranormal Activity movies also greatly confuse me because they are all linked to each other and yet the events that take place don't really seem to follow on from one another and I got the impression that the characters had forgotten the past horrors, which makes absolutely no sense to me.


The third movie takes us back to 1988 again as a sort of prequel to the prequel and we see Kristi and Katie as little girls. Kristi mysteriously starts interacting with somebody that noone else can see, who she calls 'Toby'. After Toby's appearance, many strange things start happening in the house, so Kristi's mother's boyfriend, Dennis, sets up several cameras all around the house in order to see if anything weird is going on. Everyday, Dennis collects the tapes that have been recording all night and watches the back. At first he cannot see anything, but then strange things start happening, mysterious moving objects, empty spaces that dust won't fall on, floating sheets and slamming doors. Dennis tries to convince Julie, Kristi and Katie's mother, that there's something weird going on in the house, but she refuses to believe him and this could have consequences for her and her family.

The style of acting in these movies is obviously quite different to any other movie. In addition to the fact that you're being recorded on a home camcorder, the characters are usually seen doing normal everyday things, so there's never really any need to display much acting talent as it's all pretty realistic. I did believe that all the scenes were real and had I not known that this was a film, I probably could've believed that they were real home made tapes. I suppose this means that they all were very good at acting, though it would be interesting to see how these actors fare in normal films where they would be forced to adhere to a script that is probably something they have never actually experienced in real life.


These movies always get better as time goes on. The beginnings are usually very, very slow, in fact, I'm pretty sure nothing interesting happened until the last 15 minutes of the second movie, and this one was much the same. However, by the middle of the movie, much had happened, or at least, enough to tickle your curiosity buds and make you pay attention. I felt like there was much more a story line to this one than the previous movies and it wasn't just everyday life with a bit of a twist there was actually a character, 'Toby', involved in the horror. The ending of this movie is definitely the most frightening bit and I think it was done very well in terms of filming; however, I was slightly frustrated at the end as I wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but that was probably my own fault. This movie actually has a build up and reaches a climax, unlike its predecessor and I'd say this is probably a case of 'third time lucky' for the producers.


Whilst this film was the scariest out of the three for me, it still no way near as scary as your typical 'horror' movies. If you're a fan of the Paranormal Activity movies, then I'd recommend you watch this as it is miles better than the second movie. If you're a horror movie fanatic, but have never watched any of these movies, then personally, I wouldn't recommend that you do when there are plenty of other horror movies out there; however, that's just me. If you're the sort of person who is easily frightened by the mysterious slamming of a door or 'real' horror, then I suppose this is the sort of movie for you.