10-27-11 Movie Review:  Paranormal Activity 3

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Paranormal Activity 3 is another haunted-house mystery of the school of The Blair Witch Project, and it does provide the expected shock thrills, though it depends too often on the wait-wait-something-is-going-to-happen stillness suddenly blasted by BANG: something awful, then the scene ends; the bits are certainly effective, but the device becomes tiresome. It’s obvious and unsubtle, but I defy you not to be taken in by the long silent stretches, this time well enhanced by the use of an oscillating security camera whose steady movement, almost like a heartbeat, builds suspense while your eye roves the wide screen looking for what you almost don’t want to see.

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There’s nothing much more to Paranormal Activity 3, no clear plot development or character revelation beyond the stock elements – the investigating husband, the denying wife, the kids too young to be guilty but maybe vulnerable to unworldly influences. The general direction of the action is as predictable as each shock scene is, but the certainty does not undercut the dread.

The technique of the security cameras is inevitably a little distracting, though we are cleverly shown how we can see one of the cameras photographing itself. The handheld camera jerkiness is kept at a minimum, though I was surprised by a husband searching for his missing wife holding the camera so carefully instead of concentrating on finding her, and I did once in a while wonder just who was photographing the action, and why.
But Paranormal Activity 3 ends with the best punch line since Some Like It Hot.