Normally as a series of horror films goes on the films get worse and worse. The same can’t be said for Paranormal Activity 3. For the most part the film is equal to (and in some ways better than) it’s predecessors but then everything is gone and ruined by an ending that you can only hope is going to be wrapped up in another film… either that or there are some filmmakers out there that deserve to be as dead as some of the victims they have created over the years.
Paranormal Activity 3 is a prequel to the first two movies. This time around we see Young Katie (Chloe Csengery – TV’S Chase & Parenthood) and Young Kristi Rey (Jessica Tyler Brown – I Do, TV’S Hawthorne) who live with their mother, Julie (Lauren Bittner – Subject: I Love You, Worn) and her filmmaker boyfriend, Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith – Another Psycho, TV’S The Office: U.S. Version). When Kristi Rey befriends an entity in the house weird things start happening and while Dennis and his co-worker, Randy (Dustin Ingram – TV’S Glee & Zeke And Luther) believe that something supernatural is happening Julie chooses not to believe it until soon the whole family are in danger.
Directors, Henry Joost (NY Export: Opus Jazz, Catfish) and Ariel Schulman (Catfish, Jerry Ruis, Shall We Do This?) do a great job maintaining suspense throughout the film. There are times that you find yourself waiting for something to happen and you can actually feel your heart almost beating its away out of your chest. And then when something does happen it’s ‘believable’ enough for you to think it could really happen. Thank goodness also for the fact that Joost and Schulman decided to forgot that whole ‘this really happened’ crap that the first two films went for… we knew they were actors so just admit it. However, Paranomal Activity 3 falls apart at the end with an ending so stupidly weak you want to throw rubbish at the screen and rocks at screenwriter, Christopher B. Landon (Paranormal Activity 2, Burning Palms).
Acting wise the two kids are sensational and obviously have big futures ahead of them but it is Jessica Lauren Bittner and Christopher Nicholas Smith that really show some class. Their performances are natural enough to make you think that you are watching a docco and they are two that really do deserve some more acting work to come their way. If any good at all is to come out of this film it’s the fact that these two put in performances that wipe the floor with the cast of the first two Paranormal Activity films.
It’s disappointing that Paranormal Activity 3 falls apart with an ordinary ending because for the most part it is a good horror film that maintains suspense throughout. Despite it’s woeful ending Paranormal Activity 3 is still a lot better than the other films in the series.
Year: 2011
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Stars: Lauren Bittner, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Dustin Ingram
Classification: M
Runtime: 84 mins
Rating: 
Out on DVD/Blu-Ray 16th Feb 2012