By: Gianina Thompson
Frightening demonic entities, taunting tension and jolts of petrifying screen shots-”Paranormal Activity” is back.
“Paranormal Activity 3” hit theaters at midnight on Friday, Oct. 21. This third mystery and suspense filled sequel is just as mind-blowing and terrifying as its prequels, and it came just in time for Halloween.
“Paranormal Activity 3” creates much more heightened suspense than the first two movies because of its different camera approach. The camera is mounted on an oscillating fan that pans slowly from left to right, then right to left. The panning is so slow that you are nearly biting your lips and coming up with guesses about what is going to happen. Things appear then disappear, come closer then farther, go up and then come down. The suspense is mind blowing.
The idea of a harmless imaginary friend seems to go right out the window when strange things start to happen after Kristi, the youngest daughter, starts speaking to this imaginary “friend.”
Then there is Toby who is the ghost who seems to naturally make us scream words out of a mouth we would dare not kiss our mother with. But more importantly, we learn his role into the screams from “Paranormal Activity 1” and 2 where the girls Kristi and Katie are all grown up.
The success of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise comes from not following the trend of the one-in-a-million shot of being a victim, such as the “Saw” movies. Instead, these “oh-my-gosh” moments that the characters come across are experiences that may seem quite familiar to us, especially when we hear a bump or thump in the night.
The most jaw-dropping scene in the movie is when Toby teaches Katie a “lesson” after taunting Kristi of his existence. You’ll never see it coming.
The lurking of a white sheet in the movie is evident as well. No, the kids aren’t going trick-or-treating, but it seems Toby is playing tricks and treating our suspensions indefinitely.
It seems that curiosity is the reason why most people get killed in horror films and we as the audience are yelling at the screen for the characters to get the heck out of dodge. The problem of curiosity comes into play when the oldest daughter Katie wants to play Bloody Mary. The scene was promoted on the previews with Katie and Kristi playing Bloody Mary, but in the movie it is Katie and Randy, who is a family friend and co-worker, who participated in the daring game.
Many scenes that are promoted in the previews are not used in the theatrical version of the movie, but those scenes might be used for the DVD’s director’s cut version.
“Paranormal Activity 3” plays off of conventional scare tactics like a loved one standing over your bed for several hours, or a strong wind blowing in the babysitter’s face, but it’s nothing but long strands of nothingness and odd musical chords which finds a way to suddenly shock the audience.. I suggest watching this movie during daybreak hours because everything you thought was natural becomes a paranormal activity from then on.
The entity Toby seems to validate your fears by making his presence not only known, but seen and felt. Seeing is believing, but feeling is much more terrifying.
