The Paranormal Activity series has replaced Saw as the go-to horror gimmick flick of Halloween. For those of you who somehow managed to avoid the hoopla surrounding the 2007 original, Paranormal Activity took the Blair Witch formula out of the woods and into the home, creating an effectively creepy haunted house picture that satisfied both the Youtube generation and the budget-conscious studios.
Now in its third installment, PA learned the lesson of the Book of Shadows and stuck to its low-budget formula of watching people sleep. Speaking of Youtube, this prequel makes the strange decision of going back to pre-Internet 1988 to explore the childhood haunting of Kristi and Katie from the previous films. Luckily, the technology gap between VHS and .avi doesn’t change the viewing experience. This time around, a spirit named Toby is stirring up fear and paranoia for Kristi and Katie’s mom and her wedding-videographer boyfriend (someone has to record everything). It’s like the first one, but with slightly more likable characters.
As insignificant as the plot is, Paranormal Activity 3 does quite a lot with very little. The movie is basically a how-to manual for haunted houses. As everybody knows, ghosts love to make hanging light fixtures sway mysteriously, turn lights on and off, open doors . . . and close them . . . etc. Of course there are other techniques in effect here, including some seamless and subtle digital trickery and the clever use of an oscillating fan base as a camera mount. But for a film that’s half still-shots of people asleep in their beds, the tension is palpable, even if it’s only in anticipation for the inevitable jump scare (of which there are many).
It’s a testament to the effectiveness of the formula that this series has made it to No. 3, but every gimmick is subject to the law of diminishing returns (see Saw). By the third act, the level of haunting goes from a tense and unnerving 3 to a bludgeoning but boring 8 as Toby’s rage grows, but just when the film actually should go big, it fizzles instead.
This is kind of what these films do. The sound and fury are fun if you like getting scared, but ultimately signify nothing. To do it right, wait till this one becomes available at home, turn out the lights and freak yourself out.
