The third installment of the lo-fi supernatural horror series, a prequel set in the '80s, 18 years earlier than the spooky events depicted in PA 1 and PA 2. From the directors of Catfish.
Follows series protagonists Katie and Kristi as young girls and how they first came to be terrorised by the oft-mentioned - but so far unseen - demon. All told via their trusty, ever recording, handycam.
The first Paranormal Activity (2007) was an independent production (directed by Steven Schnieder and Jason Blum, who serve as producers here) made for $US 15,000 and acquired by Paramount Pictures. It went on to become one of the most profitable films in history, pulling in nearly $US 200 million worldwide.
Found-footage horrors tend to elicit groans from me, the allure to producers seemingly only due to low costs and misplaced ideas about their ‘coolness’. With Paranormal Activity 3, though, this stylistic conceit is a given, although shifting the setting to the ‘80s and replacing shitty digital cameras with VHS seemed at first to be an unnecessary stretch. Then again, this is a prequel and it actually ends up being a relief that we don’t have to spend another 90 minutes with the same small cast of actors. Not that there’s a hell of a lot of tinkering with formula, with the bulk of the film taking place in a house with scary shit happening to a few key people.
This time the directors of Catfish are calling the shots and do a great job of replicating the spatial awareness and repetition of the two paranormal predecessors. These are critical elements of all three films, infusing proceedings with an anxiety level that primes the audience for some pretty simple scares and heightens their impact. Catfish showed that these guys can assemble a story from a bunch of ordinary-looking footage and here they do just that. Getting the simple things right each year is working for this franchise, rather than becoming ever more elaborate – unless you count bolting a camera to an oscillating fan base so it can pan left and right. Nice one, MacGyver.
By Steve Newall, Flicks.co.nz
Well actually it doesnt matter that they are back to front , because lots of series are like that . i thought it was really good and it was very scary . the end gave me a fright but i really enjoyed it . ANd i disagree the waiting and music wasnt the only scary part it was mostly always scary and a great thrill. ANd it was actually sort of finished but it wants u to thibnk about what happens next and it intreges u into seeing paranormal activity 4 . great movie .
I had much higher expectations for this movie. It is quite confusing as the third movie should be the first and the first should be the last... The only scary part was the music and the waiting pretty much. The ending made it seem like it will be continued cause it wasnt finished of properly.
well it is a cool movie but the end is stupid it dose't tell you what happend
Very good,and very scary,even tho you know whats coming it still gets you!
nice camera work. i think this series has really made fixed ('oh-my-god, did-you-see-that-little-bit-of-shadow-in-the-corner') frame horrors come out of the underground.'the blair witch project' (hate it or love it) introduced us to this genre. its like you have to make up the fear in your own mid because the camera won't tell you where to look. funny? im sure these films will get better. this one ties up the series, and it ends with the twist the first ones had. #3 is more intense action wise, so if you like these 'hold on2 your ass!'
Even though you think you’ve seen it before, it re-energizes the haunted house formula and continues to invent new ways to scare you.
That's an extra wordy way of saying "if you liked the first two, you'll like this one".
For better or worse, this is more of the same, if creepier than it was the last time around.
Paranormal Activity 3 shakes things up a bit and still manages to be just as riveting and suspenseful as the first two.
Paranormal Activity 3 earns points for its low-key ability to keep viewers primed over long stretches to expect that something very bad, or even worse, may happen at any moment.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 20th Oct 2011.
Release date: October 20th 2011.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
