Movie Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3

http://thismovieguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Lauren%20BittnerPARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3

2011
R

Paranormal Activity 3 is a 2011 horror film directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost that serves as a prequel to 2010's Paranormal Activity 2 despite being the franchise's third installment. The home video footage takes us back to 1988 where we see a young Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) dealing with the arrival of our favorite demonic presence. Kristi starts to talk about her imaginary friend "Toby," but her mother Julie (Lauren Bittner) starts to think she's letting her imagination go a little too far. Julie's boyfriend Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith), however, has his curiosity piqued when unexplainable events start to occur around the house. He sets up a number of his video cameras in order to record and document the phenomena, but as time goes by, the demon becomes more and more violent with its presence, and Dennis starts to realize that there may be more to the story than meets the eye.

I think I have to start by saying that if you weren't a fan of the first two films, there's really no need for you to see this third one. I've run into a lot of people who hated these movies, but I've found just as many who've loved them as much as I do. I should probably tell you that as well - I instantly fell in love with the original 2009 film when I saw it in theaters, and as you can see in my review of the second installment (linked in the first paragraph), you'll know that I was rather fond of that one as well (although my views have changed slightly). Still, when the third film was announced, I had mixed feelings about whether it could succeed. I was hoping they would continue where the second film had left off, but instead, they chose to take us back in time and show the start of the girls' issues with this demon. The prequel idea was an interesting one to me (those of you who read my trailer breakdown for the film will already know this), but it still wasn't a guaranteed success. However, this film did garner more positive reviews than its immediate predecessor, so the filmmakers must have done something right.

Speaking of the filmmakers, this film was brought to us by the two directors who brought us the faux (?) documentary Catfish last year. While I found that to be a rather effective film, even if I don't think it's a true documentary, I thought they were an interesting choice to carry on the Paranormal Activity franchise. However, their direction is definitely noticeable, and they did a very good job with the hand-held camerawork once again. The deftness of their cinematography as well as their direction helped create a very spooky atmosphere, and while there were a few more "jump-out-of-your-seat" moments than the original film, I thought there was a lot more suspense than the second film. Those of my readers who have been following me for a while know that I'm a strong proponent of suspense over cheap thrills, so the fact that Joost and Schulman went in that direction is a huge plus for this film. I was definitely left on the edge of my seat, so kudos to them.

There isn't a ton to say about the acting in the film. Everyone plays their parts very well, but it's not as though we were expecting anything truly brilliant in terms of acting performances. We get our obligatory Katie Featherston appearance, but aside from that, we're not really seeing anybody I've ever seen in a movie before. Still, the cast rounds out nicely and performs exactly what you'd expect to see in a film like this.

While it's not quite as good as the original film, I'd have to say it's just about on par with the second film save for a strange ending that will hopefully be explained in subsequent sequels. After making a massive amount of money over its opening weekend, I think it's only a matter of time until a fourth installment is announced. Seeing as there are some holes left to fill, I'll be eagerly expecting next October.

Movie Review Summary
Grade: B+
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Trailer Breakdown: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3

Another teaser trailer has hit the interwebs, so I thought I'd break it down for all of your reading pleasure. It's the trailer for the upcoming horror film, Paranormal Activity 3, and rather than ramble on here, I'll just get right to it. Below is the video and then some of the questions and concerns that came up while I watched it. Enjoy!

And now for my thoughts and questions that arose while watching the trailer:

1) For starters, do they really need another film in the Paranormal Activity franchise?
Now, I'll be the first to admit that I was a huge fan of the smash-hit original back in 2009, and I was definitely a skeptic when they released the second film last year, but I ultimately reviewed it favorably (although my overall view of that film has changed a little bit since then). Still, there were many things to say about the second film, and in some ways, I thought it exceeded its predecessor. I liked how they set up the possibility for another sequel, but there didn't seem to be a need to make another film. However, part three was green-lit relatively quickly, so all my skepticism came rushing back. There's no reason that this upcoming film won't continue with the previous success, but I don't know if we should really be expecting all that much from this one. Apparently, the original's director-turned-producer Oren Peli has stated that this film will be scarier than the rest, and I'm just afraid he's setting too lofty of a goal for himself.

2) This film looks to be a prequel rather than a sequel. How does that play into its overall effectiveness?
I personally like the fact that the filmmakers chose to go back in time - in this case, to 1988 - to give us a little more of the background on the demon that haunts Katie and Kristi throughout the franchise. I think it adds a little bit of freshness that a continuation story might not have been able to bring. Also, I think it adds the potential for more of an emotional connection to the girls playing the younger Katie and Kristi, a point where I thought the second film succeeded. As I mentioned in that particular review, part of the reason that Paranormal Activity 2 was so good was that it was able to pull at your heartstrings as well as your nerves. By adding a baby and a German shepherd into the mix, you couldn't help but get emotionally attached. Maybe the filmmakers picked up on this and thought that using children again might be the best way to go. However, there are some issues with the thought of a prequel. For example, because we ultimately know Katie and Kristi's fate, there's not going to be much suspense in terms of how they'll fare throughout this particular film. Sure, they're going to get scared time and time again, but at the end of the day, we know they're going to survive their childhood to some degree. Be looking for some massive twists and turns to keep the plot moving this time around.

3) On that note, I still want to know what happened to baby Hunter from the second film.
As of right now, it doesn't look like we'll really be getting much in terms of that part of the story, unless this "prequel" business is only a piece of what Paranormal Activity 3 will entail. If we don't get the answers to Hunter's whereabouts, we might be looking at a fourth film in 2012.

4) How much of Katie Featherston will we be seeing this time around?
As the first film's lead and a major source of drama in the second film, it goes without saying that we should expect Featherston to at least make an appearance at some point. The only way they could get away without her would be to keep the entire story as a prequel without any flash-forwards to more present day events, but because she's been the staple of the franchise, I'm not sure whether they'll be able to pull that off. Still, there's no official word on the Internet Movie Database as to whether she'll be making an appearance, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

5) How will the directors fare with this type of material?
Normally, the course of direction wouldn't pose much of a problem as long as Peli remains on-board as a producer, but the two directors helmin this particular picture do send up a little bit of a red flag for me. Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, who made a name for themselves by crafting the 2010 faux documentary Catfish, have taken the reigns of this one, and I'm a little bit concerned as to how they'll approach it. They went to great lengths to prove to everyone that their last film was a true story, and I personally don't know if they've yet to come clean on that particular point of order. And considering this will really be their first foray into the horror genre - no, Catfish was not a horror film, or even a thriller, for that matter - it should be quite an interesting watch. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.

Paranormal Activity 3 is currently set to hit U.S. theaters on October 21, 2011.

Movie Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2

2010
R


You can watch the trailer here

(I'd like to start by saying that when I first heard of the plans to make swift on the heels of the overnight success of its predecessor, I definitely had my doubts about whether or not it would be a good film. It seemed as though the planets were aligned for this movie to fail, and I was only giving it a shot out of my pure love for my pure astonishment with Paranormal Activity. I would like to continue by saying that I am a man who can admit when he's wrong.)

It's extremely difficult to make a sequel that can be considered better than an original film, but it has been done in the past. For example, most people view Terminator 2: Judgment Day as a step up from The Terminator. Some people would argue that The Empire Strikes Back stands above the original Star Wars. The Godfather: Part II is often considered the best of The Godfather trilogy. However, to make a sequel in the horror genre that is better than the first is almost unheard of.

That's why I was genuinely surprised with the effectiveness of Paranormal Activity 2, which is good considering Tod Williams took over for Oren Peli in directing the film. I can't give away too many plot details because I don't want to ruin the movie before you get a chance to see it. However, I can say that it delivers just as many thrills and chills as the first Paranormal movie, and then some. As you can see from the trailer, we get a little bit more of a human interaction this time around; rather than simply having our young couple, we have an entire family being terrorized by everyone's favorite demon.

Katie Featherston reprises her role, and we even get a couple of scenes with Micah Sloat. However, the movie really centers around our new family (who is related to Katie in the film), consisting of the father (Brian Boland), the mother (Sprague Grayden), a teenage daughter (Molly Ephraim), a toddler son and a German shepherd named Abby. The entire family is effective and convincing, but the addition of the infant and the dog really amp up the terror.

Someone once told me that you can have a movie where a million people die, and the mass public will love the movie, but as soon as one child or one dog gets hurt, they will hate the movie in a heartbeat. This logic almost follows through here, but for some reason, the addition of both an infant and a dog only enhances the effect of the film. It's as though there's more of a human element in Paranormal Activity 2 that the original simply did not have. One of my biggest (and only) gripes about the first movie was Micah, who drove me bonkers, and I wanted him to get offed eventually. But by bringing in a baby and a dog, I feel as though the movie drew me in even more, and pulled at the heartstrings a little bit. It's not easy to see things happen to those two, but they filmmakers made it work.

In all honesty, I found Paranormal Activity 2 to be a slight step ahead of its predecessor, simply because it stuck to its roots, in a sense, while giving us more reason to empathize with the characters on-screen. I'd like to remind everyone that this is not a horror film in the vein of the Halloween remakes with your cheap thrills; this is more about suspense. If you can't let yourself fall into a film like that, then this is not for you, and you should stick to such drivel as the Halloween remakes. However, if you liked the first Paranormal Activity movie, I'd bet that you'll like this one just as much.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: A-
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