Since the end of the Saw franchise, people need a new horror series to watch on Halloween. To my surprise, this has happened in the form of what I call the Blair Witch Revival, better known as Paranormal Activity. I can see how the first film brought in some decent numbers, as it was a new thing (sort of), and a fair number of people thought it was real. Then, naturally, a sequel was released, and I thought it was destined to fail because this just isn't the type of concept you can repeat over and over. And what do you know? The third one is a record breaker. I'd like to take a moment to consider why people watch these movies and why this will ultimately go down as one of the worst horror franchises in history.
I saw the first Paranormal Activity in a packed theater. I immediately recognized the appeal of the movie: the reactions of the audience. That's right. The movie itself was decent as an anticipation device, but by no means extraordinary as a horror film. Hearing the reactions of the crowded theater, however, is where the real entertainment lies, as you either share in their gasps and screams or laugh at them. I think this is why the third film had such a strong opening. Everyone wanted to catch it when the big crowds were there. But by now, all of the Ahs, Whoas, and Oh-shits have just turned to laughter all around.
I normally hate when critics review a sequel and do nothing but compare it to its predecessors, but I really can't think of anything else to do here. Paranormal Activity 3 is as much a direct copy-paste of the first two as I can imagine, and the easiest way to explain what's wrong with it is to say that everything the first one did right, this one does wrong.
First, I'll address the copy-paste issue. Believe me when I say this movie is copied and pasted more than just about any other sequel I can name. This is beyond sticking to a formula. This is reusing all the same techniques, an identical story (needless to say, but it's really identical), and even all the same gags. As always, you'll get long shots from the cameras that take a full view of the room. You'll be waiting for something to happen, not knowing when or where on the screen it will occur. Then you see the door close by itself. A figure standing in the hallway, but when they look, it's gone. Someone getting dragged out of bed by an invisible force. A light fixture swinging without being touched. Feel like you've seen all this before? You'll see it again and again and again in Paranormal Activity 3.
Now to compare. It always blows my mind when sequels and remakes do the exact same thing as the original, but still manage to fail to do it half as well. You'd think they could improve on Paranormal Activity. The main thing here is that all subtlety the first one may have had is lost. In this one, you have an endless roller coaster of cheap thrills. You get a long shot that begs for you to anticipate a scare, then something jumps out at the screen, then a handful of people scream, then the audience laughs. Rinse and repeat for 90 minutes. Please do not take this as exaggeration. This is all there is. There is no break in the action, no subtle scares, no creepy moments, no false anticipation. It's to the point that it's not only repetitive, it's ineffective because of it.
One reason the first movie worked was that it attempted--with some success--to give us an emotional connection to the characters. We got some scenes of dialogue, a good bit of set up to establish what their lives were like, and finally some emotional moments as the, ahem, paranormal activity threatened to tear them apart. All of that is lost in PA3. The main character is a relatively young man with a girlfriend who has two young children. But despite some very good child actors, there really isn't much there that makes us care about the well-being of the kids, and even less to endear us to the adults. The movie just gets on with the cheap thrills and keeps them coming.
I expect the Paranormal Activity franchise will continue as long as they keep making money. Considering the very low cost to make each one and the high profits each one brings, this could go on for a long time. PA3 is one of the worst sequels I've seen because it completely rehashes the content of the first movie and does it much worse. Even if you haven't seen the first two PA movies, this one is a weak specimen in the horror genre. For your own sake, save your money; just rent the first one and you will have seen all three. I'm not sure how much the producers had to pay someone to say, "The last 15 minutes will mess you up for life," but the only way this is true is if your life depended on Paranormal Activity 3 being a good movie.
Caius's rating: 1 Star (out of 4)
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