This Halloween season has been slow to start as far as horror films go, but there is one to save the day, as always.
Paranormal Activity 3 is the second prequel in the ground-breaking series that is the Paranormal Activity franchise. This worldwide phenomenon offers much more than just flickering lights and scratching on the walls, while maintaining its sense of reality.
Although this is by far the most violent of the series, the writers did not drag their feet with the plotline. Paranormal Activity 3 was directed by the same men that directed the Sundance Award-winning film “Catfish”, Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, who have plenty of talent working with found footage/documentary-style films.
If you have not seen the first two films, the “Paranormal Activity” series is centered around a twenty-something named Katie. Her life is demolished by a demonic entity that has been a part of her life since she was a young girl. Following the frighteningly amazing first installment is a prequel that takes place just months before the spooky occurrences in Katie’s life, where the demon is drawn to Katie’s younger sister, Christi, and her son, Hunter. The third installment of this terrifying trilogy plays off of the fear of the invisible and unexplainable, centering around Katie and Christi as children, in hopes to explain where it all started.
Katie and Christi encounter the same demonic entity that haunts them later in the first two films, but it takes a liking to young Christi. No one, except for Christi, is safe against “Toby” (or so Christi calls him) and his antics are nothing short of earthshaking.
Each bump and thump in the night is carefully placed, but when Katie mocks her sister’s “imaginary friend”, the game is changed and all bets are off. The demon is angered by a mere child’s ability to challenge its overpowering capabilities, and challenges her to keep her feet on the ground.
The movie wraps up in the same manner the other two films do: a twist ending you never see coming that will leave you tucking yourself so tightly in bed so nothing can you pull out of it. The cast of unknowns delivering back-breaking performances leave you with a feeling that is unshakable for days, as the majority of the activity happens in the middle of the night. Wave good-bye to a good night’s sleep for some time.
There were very few holes left open in the storyline for yet another addition to the Paranormal Activity family, but with Hollywood the way it is, it’s always possible. If you are interested in having the “willies” scared out of you, not sleeping for a week and hearing spooky noises that have completely rational explanations, then give Paranormal Activity 3 a shot.
