Paranormal Activity 3

Bringing over a box of tapes, Katie (Katie Featherston) hopes her sister, Kristie (Sprague Graydon) will allow her to put them in the basement (she has no room for them, she tells her). On those video tapes are the recordings of the sister's mother's second husband, Dennis. These VHS records from 1988 will foretell paranormal activity during the time when Katie and Kristie were children and how a demonic presence tormented their seemingly amicable family idyll.

To kind of reiterate something spoken about in Paranormal Activity 2; it was mentioned in conversation between Katie and Kristy regarding their mother. Their mother’s plight hadn’t been seen, so the third film not only works as a time warp (it records 1988 when the sisters were children) but allows us to see a little more into the demonic spirit that has existed for some time with the girls.

By this third film, the medium of found footage (quite lucrative and even with some added effects thanks to the profit-to-budget ratio being substantially positive there’s plenty of money made; a definite return on the investment) allowed for plenty of room to become even more inventive. Like when the house shakes and it appears that their area is suffering an earthquake, such an example.

Dennis is a part of this family, inserted into while a father seems absent. He has a lot of video equipment and seems to be a self-employed video-grapher. He was putting together videos and photography for a wedding in the early going. Not long after that, however, he keeps an eye on what the camera records in his own house. Going old school in this film, PA3 predates the highly popular (even if it doesn’t deserve such accolades and attention) VHS and, for me, is far more satisfying.

There’s a fun “fake scare” where Dennis and his buddy investigate a noise and open a closet. The wife pops out in an ugly mask and scares the shit out of both of them! It is hilarious. Another “fake jolt” happens when a babysitter pops in front of the camera as it quietly, methodically turns to the left while she’s in the kitchen, taking advantage as it turn back to the right.

There’s a nifty moment where Dennis and his bud concoct a camera turning to the left and right thanks to a fan! It is rather ingenious and when there’s no money, you have to improvise. Of course, you just know that this will be used as a scare device later.

You get a number of “paranormal gags” that frequent these kinds of films. Noises, of course, are obviously a large part. You get swinging light, extending from the ceiling that breaks off camera. A little closet door (it is where “Toby” likes to stay) shuts on Katie when she antagonizes her sister and doesn’t obey Kristie’s warnings to leave well enough alone. A bathroom light turns on and there are footsteps quite noticeable. Kristie chats with Toby at night, and says she shares secrets with him. There is even a neat trick where falling dust forms a shape of Toby.

The gag with the bed sheet and the babysitter in the kitchen (not to mention, the scene in the bedroom with the babysitter and Toby’s closet where she’s “knocked back”), though, is what left the best impression. It is that kind of subtle bit of “oh, shit” I like a hell of a lot.

Then there’s the Bloody Mary game in the bathroom. I figure this will be the key scene people immediately mention or think of when Paranormal Activity 3 enters the conversation. Kristie tells Toby she won’t be playing with him anymore, probably because he wanted her to do something sinister. What this conversation entails we’ll never know because it is one-sided to us. So Toby acts out by giving her a fever. Before Kristie’s dismissal of Toby she had spent a few hours (well Toby inside of her, I think) staring at her stepdad and mom (sleeping at 3 am) from the doorway. When Dennis (Chris Smith) gets his bud to babysit Katie while they carry Kristie to the doctor’s, the two of them play the Bloody Mary game, turn on the lights after having them off and calling her name. Then Toby emerges (you can just see a faint black image of something in the crack of the door opening, then the rattling and shaking does the rest. Dennis’ pal receives a scratch from inside the bathroom, and this informs them that Toby is not fucking around. Both are obviously scared shitless.

Toby’s temper tantrums and bad behavior intensify, particularly towards Katie. Jerking by the hair, with Katie levitating off the ground, later pulled across the floor, and the bedroom suffering her bed and sheets removed furiously towards Toby’s closet; this is proving difficult for the Kristie to ignore so she agrees to do what Toby desires (what is this exactly?).

Then there is 12:11 pm. This is the showstopper. The PA franchise decides to hurtle a lot more at the viewer, but nothing can prepare for the kitchen sequence where mom notices missing things from this particular area of the house…they appear from the ceiling and crash to the floor! It is a bonafide stunner. This is a work of pure genius. I think a fourth PA film was never gonna match what the third film left behind.

Hinted at in this film is a coven that could explain why Toby exists at all and why these girls are what attract it. The grandmother tells their mother she would desire for her to try with Dennis for a son. A son is desired by a coven because of what the demon will give them in return. Perhaps all of this stems from a vow or relationship with evil. Dennis learns the hard way why the coven is dangerous, especially Toby.

 

 

By the end, after the kitchen episode, the family packs up and heads to Julie's (Lauren Bittner) mother's house, but Dennis (and the girls) have no idea what awaits them. If they thought the terror would cease, this will soon be answered when Toby raises even more hell. Also grandmother has a surprise for the whole family. The girls will eventually join her, but there's no need for Dennis. He will try to save the girls but be denied. There are forces far stronger than him.

I think besides some of the goods delivered here that have capitalized on some of the limitations of the first two films, the character of Dennis is perhaps the most likable of the male adult leads of the franchise. He's not a dick. He's not a douche. He truly does care about this family and wants to help, but Julie just is oblivious to all that is happening. Even as the film concludes and she is betrayed by the very one she loves so dear, Julie was unaware of just how in the dark she truly was. As far as Dennis is concerned, he had aligned himself with a family that is linked to evil that will befall him. Up until the very end, though, he wanted to save the girls. But the coven had plans for them...