Henry Joost
Writer: Christopher B Landon
Starring: Chloe Csengery
Jessica Tyler Brown
Lauren Bittner
Christopher Nicholas Smith
Dustin Ingram
Katie Featherston
Sprague Graydon
Rating: ****
Release Date: 21/10/11
The third installment in the extremely successful series, is scarier, creepier and quite honestly, the best one yet.
We start with a nice cameo from Katie and Kristi (Featherston & Graydon), the two stars from 1 and 2 respectively. Although this is the only time they appear, it is a nice start and a clever way to begin the story. We are then transported, by the medium of home videos, to 1988 when both Katie and Kristi are small children (Csengery & Brown). Both girls do a terrific job, considering how scary and horrifying some of it must have been to shoot. It is Katie's birthday, and her mother Julie and step-father Dennis (Bittner & Smith) are trying to keep everything in check. It is here we are first shown that Kristi has an imaginary friend called Toby, although he isn't as imaginary as they first suspected.
As the days go by, things start happening, things that can't be explained; so to get to the bottom of it all Dennis and his friend Randy (Ingram) set up cameras around the house and survey it together. This is when things go from weird to freaking terrifying. First it is just strange noises, then doors slamming, but then when things get thrown across the room and people are genuinely harmed the family start to panic. Of course they throw in the odd cliche jump moment (babysitter jumps in front of camera and mum in werewolf mask), but it doesn't detract away from how well written and directed the film is, in fact they got some of the biggest screams.
My big issue is the end, I won't go into what happened but it was just very anti-climactic. In fact the friend I saw it with suspected that the little girl would start a house fire, after being told to by Toby, which of course would have fit perfectly with PA1 and would have rounded out the series nicely. Then when I realised just how brilliant that would be, I got a little excited, only to be disappointed that the film makers missed out on a key opportunity.
Despite this disappointment, it without a doubt, was my favourite of the series, and easily the scariest. Things are far more in your face and so much more violent, that they generated a bigger reaction and actually scared my fearless friend. The writing is clever, the direction is spot on, and the way they have linked all three movies is superbly done, and a trilogy as good as this hasn't been seen in a while. My worry is that they will keep making them and completely suck the life out of the series (Saw franchise...), and as much as I love them, they need to end now. It is in cinemas now, and is definitely the perfect Halloween film; and will without a doubt leave you sleeping with your light on.
Paranormal Activity 3 - Trailer
(PS alot of the stuff in this trailer isn't in the film, and if it had been, I probably would have died. Although, looks like my friends ending featured, Huh. Wonder why there were so many cuts. Anyway, go watch it. Bye)
(PS alot of the stuff in this trailer isn't in the film, and if it had been, I probably would have died. Although, looks like my friends ending featured, Huh. Wonder why there were so many cuts. Anyway, go watch it. Bye)
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