[6.50/10] Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Brief review: "Catfish"'s directing duo brings this parallel prequel to the original film, and thankfully they deliver in spades. Even though "PA 3" is the typical 'slow burner', the directors manage to build tension and suspense throughout very convincingly, thanks to their creative ideas and great technical skills. Though the third entry is visually-plain, in terms of variety, camera angles and editing, it's probably the best-shot of the three. It also offers more character development than the previous two films, and the characters themselves are well-written, and easy to relate to. The biggest surprise is that the over-the-top scary scenes from the trailer didn't make the final cut. On one hand, the fans of in-your-face scares might be disappointed by this fact, but on the other hand, those unnecessarily unrealistic scenes were cut for good, because their absence make the film even more credible, hence realistically frightening. Speaking of scares, "PA 3" follows the same successful formula - it doesn't show too much, allowing the viewer's imagination to go wild. The final 15 minutes of the movie are tense and heart pounding, thought the ending is rather confusing and leaves more questions than answers, which sets the stage for further debate.

Overall summary: As expected, "Paranormal Activity 3" is 'more of the same' in terms of style and shocks, and is the least scary of the three, however, it goes in a slightly different direction than its predecessors, hence, it's refreshing and effective enough to leave most fans satisfied.