Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Review

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Synopsis:

Discover how the activity began…

In 1988, young sisters Katie and Kristi befriend an invisible entity who resides in their home.

Review

The Paranormal. A lot of people are freaked out by it (myself included) as it’s something you can’t really explain or tell if it’s real or not. I hadn’t seen the trailer and am grateful I didn’t as I have read it’s rather misleading to the actual film. With that in mind, I still knew very well what I was getting myself into when I walked into the theatre yesterday afternoon (having seen the previous films). If you haven’t seen the first two, you could still watch it as a stand-alone horror if you want to. I would have to say I enjoyed the film. If you liked Paranormal Activity 1 and 2…you should enjoy this installment.

The film begins with a standard intro of the cast and how they are going in their lives. Happy, having fun and enjoying life in general-that is until things start going bump in the night…literally. What I liked about this film is the way the story unfolds. It starts off gradually building tension as the film progresses. It kind of sucks you in and feels like you are watching some one’s home video recording, which adds to the realism of the film (for me a reason why the film is that much scarier).

The cinematography is done in a POV (point of view) format, which makes it seem like you are experiencing what’s happening on screen, first hand. The angles at which they get really helps with the tension as you can’t see what’s around the next corner until…well, the person takes us there, creating a good dose of freakiness as it feels like you have no control. There’s a few cameras’ setup, so we get taken through a few varied shots inside the house, with some scenes done with the camera being carried around. There is also a new camera style (or angle) added, which is quite effective…

Along the lines of effects, they are done superbly! They provide some extremely chilling moments that gave me serious gooseflesh. The main effects do come from what is happening in the house and at the end of the day, is what the film resides on to make it scary. If you have seen the previous films, then the scares might feel slightly familiar, but you will be glad to know they do mix it up…

At the end of the day, Paranormal Activity 3 sets out to scare people, and I think it does the job very well. There are key elements at what makes this movie work the way it does and is a great addition to the franchise. The film has done tremendously well at the box office, costing $5million and has gone on to gross $173million. On a side note, a lot of people either hate these films or love them. For me, it comes down to putting yourself in that situation which makes it THAT much more real and scary, so try going in with an open mind, it might help you enjoy the film more.

Once it has been released on DVD/Blu-Ray, you could watch them back to back for an extreme scare-fest! You can also view them as a reverse trilogy as the films story-line actually works in this way (if you are a true fan, you will know what I am talking about).

Worth a watch if you are a fan of Horror (every horror fan should see this film at least once IMO), think you don’t get scared easily or enjoy the franchise.

Trailer

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