Paranormal Activity 3 - Review

Doesn't that movie look awesome? And pee your pants scary?!

What a shame that's not the movie that was screened. The majority of those scares and scenes were left in the trailers and didn't make it into the end product.

Paranormal Activity 3 is the third (obviously) in the franchise and a prequel to the others. From the makers of the 'Seriously?' documentary Catfish. The film is set in 1988 and attempts to explain the previous two.

Normally when I watch horror movies I watch them on x2 so the music doesn't freak me out but this film, like Cloverfield, took the brave step with silence. No music, no background sound but ominous shuffling and silence. It worked. I was on edge for the duration. The most original concept here though was for them to mount the camera on a makeshift oscillating fan in an attempt to catch the phúca. As the camera panned excruciatingly slowly back and forth you never knew what was awaiting you on its arduous return. Genius.

The story focuses on Kristi, the youngest child, and her connection to Toby, the resident poltergeist in his cloak of invisibility. Both she and her sister Katie bear the brunt of the heebie jeebies here. Great little actresses.

My big, no huge, bugbear with this film is mentioned above, yes there are some genuine frights but they're few and far between. There is subtle tension right the way through and the final scenes are fairly ominous but they're no Kill List.


If you like the Paranormal Activity shizz chances are you'll like this, I was genuinely on edge for its entirety but that's mostly because I believed the trailers and virals and was waiting for those scenes. I feel duped. 

Rating: