When the "Movie-Man" thinks of Paranormal Activity 3, two words come to mind...FALSE ADVERTISING! On this review of the third installment of the popular Paranormal Activity franchise, I will vent why I think that many (I'm talking to you TIME Magazine and Entertainment Weekly!) have oversold this exercise in redundancy as a hit movie! This movie is a prequel and after my delight with the recently reviewed "The Thing", I was game for another prequel. I'm starting to like them for the simple reason that I can then go back and watch the originals and put 2 + 2 together and further enjoy my movie watching experience. This was NOT the case with PA3. It raised more questions than it provided answers. In movies, the purpose of a "prequel", by definition, should answer any previous questions, not leave you scratching your head!
While I'd like to state that PA3 was, by no means, a terrible movie, many in attendance and I were left baffled as to why the producers saw it fit to show a film that was almost entirely different from the TV spots that have been in heavy rotation on television and online. Although the movie did suffer from the same formula as parts 1 and 2 of the action ("really good parts") coming to light in the final 10-15 minutes of a nearly 90 minute film, that didn't bother me per se. I like this franchise and believed that we were going to see something more than what we did the last two times. Especially after the most recent trailer quotes Ain't It Cool's Aaron Morgan stating that "the final 15 minutes...will mess you up for life. ...not the case in this movie!
In fact, when comparing the final segments between all three movies, Katie and Micah's final scenes in the first film still gives me the creeps. This one left me thinking "Oh great...I have to wait until #4?!!!" Seeing Katie and Kristi as little girls (great performances by Chloe Csengery and Jessica Tyler Brown) was good for the story. Writer Christopher B. Landon and producer-writer Oren Peli return with some good addition to the story arc but it was mediocre in the execution of the material.
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| Don't look for either one of these scenes...they not in the current release! |
Also, one of the series' great concept of not truly knowing where all this started has been revealed and to involve a group of old hag witches led by..."surprise"... Katie and Kristi's grandmother is somewhat of a let down. I was intrigued by the whole unknown"entity/ghost" format but after seeing PA3 it's now known that it is actually a demon named "Toby" that wants or needs to "marry" little Kristi...what???
In closing, I would recommend those who have yet to see it to wait until the blu-ray/DVD "extended cut" version that is sure to come out to further milk this "had potential" series. Now, with that in mind, I present the following two trailers. Play them and then decide which movie you would like to see. The omitted footage, in my opinion, was more shocking, frightening and, above all else... entertaining.
Now, go into a dark room and say "Bloody Mary" three times and see what happens.
Actual scenes in the theatrical release:
Scenes that were omitted from the theatrical release:
The directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman should be ashamed for cutting out all of the good scenes as depicted in this trailer. The paying public was short changed in what was obviously a more tantalizing film.
C & K Rating: 2 Tubs of Popcorn w/ Sm. Diet Coke
"What your opinion?...We'd like to know."
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