Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman | 84 minutes | horror | Actors: Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden, Mark Fredrichs

The first ‘Paranormal Activity’ was a ‘sleeper hit’. It had been a long time since a found footage film was shown in the cinema that attracted entire tribes. ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was a well-known one, but after that it went quiet. Okay, you can ‘Cloverfield’ and ‘[Rec]’ also count, but those movies were way beyond realism (an alien and zombies are not commonplace). Not that “Paranormal Activity” is mundane, but ghostly apparitions are less far-fetched than fantasy creatures. However?

Anyway, after the success of the first part, a (wretched) sequel followed and now a second sequel is on the shelves of your local entertainment farmer. A part that’s better than the predecessor, but not nearly as impressive as the original. In fact, ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ is quite exhausting at times.

‘Paranormal Activity 3′ tells the story of sister Katie and Kristie – both featured in previous installments. This installment of the franchise tells of the sisters’ past, a family history that featured paranormal entities.

This film is quite nicely made (don’t expect original camera angles, special make-up effects or a blood-curdling soundtrack), but can’t hide the fact that the trick has worked out. In the first part, the tension building still worked well. The camera let you stare at a certain room for minutes, until your attention gradually slackened… Then suddenly a shadow, loud noise or falling scenery was shown. Scare dude! It worked fine because you weren’t prepared for such scenarios. That ‘Paranormal Activity’ was launched in the midst of the clunky ‘torture porn era’ – a time when films like ‘Saw’ and ‘Hostel’ portrayed every atrocity – made the relatively understated and modest ‘Paranormal Activity’ a surprise hit. After two sequels, the surprise is gone.

Still, part 3 is quite exciting at times. The child actors are very good, the sparse special effects disturbing and the build-up is also quite nice. It is clear that the most tension is in the last half hour. Before that, however, you stare at still lifes and rather meaningless dialogues for minutes. If you feel like it for a third time, then this is a great film for you. The more critical film viewer can pass up this ‘one trick pony’.