Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 3

Paranormal Activity 3 is the series’ worst entry and a huge disappointment for horror fans in this, the season of our most treasured holiday. Co-directed by the Catfish guys, Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost perform the cardinal sin of horror: they play it far too safe. I’ll dive into the meat of the film itself momentarily. But allow me to bitch first.

There’s no narrative device I typically loathe more than prequels. If the Star Wars prequels (Exhibit A, B, C, D & H for why this method of storytelling doesn’t work) taught us anything, it’s that we don’t need to know how we arrived at Luke on Tatooine. He’s there, and bam — we’re caught up to speed. Even more damaging however, is that nothing the filmmakers can show you will ever measure up to the expectations you’ve amassed in your own imagination. Boba Fett was cool, but now he’s a bitchy clone with daddy issues and an Australian accent.  Sometimes the not knowing is better.

Having said that, I have some issues with this Paranormal Activity series and its overall trajectory. Let’s put aside for a moment what these films are really about – moments of supreme eeriness bookended by jump scares – and look at the story they’re trying to tell. For those new to the series, beware. We’re about to tread spoiler territory.

There’s no narrative device I typically loathe more than prequels.

The first film ends on a cliffhanger with protagonist Katie going supernaturally-infused postal and murdering her boyfriend with her bare hands. So where does the next film go? Prequel, save for the last ten minutes which take place immediately after the ending of the first film. The second film ends on an even bigger cliffhanger, with Katie showing up at her sister Kristi’s (oh your time has come) home; killing her, her husband and stealing their first-born son. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what happens next? To find out what Katie did with that baby? The filmmakers steering this series didn’t think so, which is why PA3 is set in 1988.

What made the first Paranormal Activity so effective was the feeling that these were normal people. Katie and her boyfriend Micah were a young couple living comfortably until, out of nowhere, a demon takes a liking to Katie and begins haunting her and Micah. Adding to the despair of the situation was the fact that it was Katie, and not their home, being haunted. No matter where they went, this entity would follow them.

Then Paranormal Activity 2, a film I enjoyed more than most it seems, pulls the curtain back a bit. We find out that there’s a pretty elaborate backstory. Someone in this family made a pact with a demon for a firstborn son and all of the sudden the impact is lessened. No longer are these random folk pulled apart by a horrific situation. Now there’s a coven, blood oaths, demonic rituals. Despite a film that I felt surpassed the original in scares, we’re now bogged down in backstory that doesn’t add to the horror, but distracts from it. Again, sometimes the not knowing is better.

No longer are these random folk pulled apart by a horrific situation. Now there’s a coven, blood oaths, demonic rituals.

Which brings us now to this, the third entry of the series. Here we see Katie and Kristi as kids with their mother Julie and her live-in boyfriend Daniel. Naturally (given the conceit of these films), Daniel is a videographer who runs his own wedding-filming business. When Kristi’s supposed-imaginary friend Toby begins to manifest itself in some pretty terrifying ways, Daniel decides to capture it on film. Essentially, he’s the lead as well as our eyes and ears with which we encounter the madness. Also, he’s some sort of filmic genius, as he’s able to shoot VHS in widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio in the 1980s.

That’s a minor gripe. By this time if you’re not accepting of the fact that these characters’ reasons for filming are thin at best, then you might as well abandon ship. For me, the overall premise hasn’t worn thin yet. I’ve enjoyed the found-footage genre up to a point (REC, Cloverfield, and Troll Hunter being notable high-points), and once you get past the fact that these people don’t stop filming even in the height of danger you can sit back and enjoy the films for what they are. The VHS approach, though I don’t remember it ever looking this good, is still a cool touch and inauspicious in the context of the film as a whole.

My issue is twofold. First, this story is moving backward when it should be moving forward. Second, if the story isn’t progressing then the scares need to be there to balance it out. And that’s Schulman and Joost’s biggest failing, the scares aren’t there.

The setup is well done, even if it’s too drawn out. And I can even get behind the fact that Daniel films everything, as perhaps this father-figure accounts for Katie’s attraction to Micah (essentially the exact same guy, even down to looks) in PA1. There’s nothing wrong with the cast, and the setting itself is a solid one if the scares can pay off. But they don’t.

That’s Schulman and Joost’s biggest failing, the scares aren’t there.

The scariest scene in the original is when we see the entity’s footprints walk across the floor. Loud, jarring and mysterious, it helps paint a picture for the form and contours of this creature. Granted, it might be a very limited mental image, but that’s what found-footage is built on: show us a little bit and our minds can do the rest.

I love the concept that there’s an evil being existing on some separate plain, feeding off of fear and able to reach us in terrifying ways when it’s at its strongest. But Paranormal Activity 3, diverges the most from this idea. Toby (as the entity is now referred to), seems content to walk around in a ghost sheet and break the occasional lamp. Only twice does the demon do anything of real damage to anybody, and the films best (Only?) kill isn’t even reserved for Toby.

I love the concept that there’s an evil being existing on some separate plain, feeding off of fear and able to reach us in terrifying ways when it’s at its strongest.

The main reason this is the least scary entry in the franchise has to do with repetition. There isn’t a single new or inventive jump scare that sets itself apart from anything in the early films. There’s no greater reveal that let’s us know more about what this creature is, or what lengths it is truly capable. Instead, we’re treated to breadcrumbs about some witchcraft within Katie and Kristi’s family.

Evil can be anywhere, and more so, it can be discovered everywhere – even in our own families. There’s something powerfully profound in that; that these girls are so damaged by past familial misdeeds that they go on to lead lives of misery and destruction. This demon serves an obscured patriarchal role, protecting the girls while selfishly coveting them for its own mysterious goals. Unfortunately, this thread – one that I suspect could have caught on with audiences and afforded the films a longer shelf-life – is never explored by the filmmakers. I get the impression that Schulman and Joost were content not to rock the boat. Being relatively new filmmakers, their contribution to the franchise is minimal at best. Their impact is a footnote.

Still, I hope for a Paranormal Activity 4. This is a concept that can work under the right circumstances, but it needs to lead somewhere. It’s no longer enough to keep remaking Paranormal Activity in different settings. I hope Paramount attaches a director and a writer who are ready to take some new chances and breathe new life into the franchise. Surrounded by our peers in the comfort of a theater is security blanket enough, scare the shit out of us.

Being relatively new filmmakers, their contribution to the franchise is minimal at best. Their impact is a footnote.

We go to the movies to see something we’ve never seen before, or are unable to experience on our own. The Paranormal Activity device is one that can be used to great effect in the right hands. But don’t bog us down with anymore of this bullshit backstory. Take us somewhere we haven’t been before, show us something we’ve never seen. Sometimes, the not knowing is better.

 Rating: 4.5 out of 10