Paranormal Activity 3 takes you back to where it all began and the activity is more intense than ever. The cameras are on and recording the chilling moments when evil begins to terrorize young sisters Katie and Kristie for the first time. Brace yourself for the horror phenomenon that delivers “heart-exploding scares”* so frightening that “the last 15 minutes will mess you up for life.”**

*Brad Miska, Bloody Disgusting; **Aint-It-Cool-News

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2809 in DVD
• Released on: 2012-01-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Running time: 84 minutes

Amazon.com
A leaner, meaner, and altogether scarier entry in the Paranormal Activity horror franchise, Paranormal Activity 3 is a well-oiled scare machine that delivers the gut-wrenching shocks of the original 2007 film. Fans may initially groan over the plot, which takes the tried-and-true sequel tack of flashing back to the "origin" of the first film's phenomena; here, we discover that the diabolical entity that plagued sisters Katie and Kristi (Katie Featherston and Sprague Grayden, both of whom return in "found footage" clips) has been after the girls since their adolescent years in the late '80s. There's an attempt to provide a reason for the haunting, which may or may not rankle franchise fans; its inclusion, however, doesn't interrupt the barrage of shudders and armrest-clutching frights encountered by the girls' father (Chris Smith), a wedding videographer whose skill with cameras uncovers glimpses of the monstrous presence in his house. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish) have a keen understanding of how to use the corners of their image to milk maximum suspense from a static shot or slow-moving pan, as shown in one of the film's most memorable scenes, in which a camera mounted on an oscillating fan first suggests and then reveals a terrifying moment. As before, the human element is the weakest link, though Chloe Csengery and Jessica Tyler Brown, as young Katie and Kristi, respectively, are convincingly hysterical at the proper moments. But one doesn't attend a Paranormal Activity film to see fine acting. The franchise is a thrill ride/rite of passage/endurance test for its loyal fans, and PA 3 has the horsepower to stand alongside the other pictures. --Paul Gaita

Most helpful customer reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Some people's favorite and my least favorite of the franchise...but I say see it either way!
By Tokay
First off, I should say that I LOVED parts one and two. The first two relied more heavily on very slow-building tension. These predecessors basically "taught" viewers how to watch these movies in the first 20-30 minutes by offering numerous subtle, relatively unimportant objects moving as if a spectral breeze had shifted them. This way when such production devices became important, the viewer had a trained eye--not unlike what was done with White Noise. These movies convey a style that is very unusual. So it came as no surprise to me that there was little middle ground in people's opinions of them; they loved'em or hated'em. I love'em. Why? Because my senses are all on full power; I'm all in; I'm practically concentrating on the screen and listening to every creak trying to sleuth out the next clue that something fishy is going on in that house. Some people may call this "work". I call it cool. [But people chatting during the movie are a much greater distraction than normal under the circumstances.]

This third installment was my least favorite, but I can totally understand why it may be others' favorite. While it still employed subtle moving objects, it did it less, instead relying on more mainstream devices to provoke scared jumps from the audience. It also borrowed more heavily from the Poltergeist movies than the first two--not that I minded. The characters' investigation into the strange goings-on was more methodical and plot-driven. The first two were more event-driven and investigated more out of fear and curiosity. The differences between 3 and 1 & 2 were subtle, but numerous, chief amongst them being that "the paranormal" functions as a character in this movie, rather than a mysterious "force" in the first two. As such, the actions of "the paranormal" were more blatant and felt more like "it" was doing something "to someone" whereas in 1 & 2 it was more like "something was happening" to someone in a haunted house.

The plot is simple. A family lives in a house. Weird things start happening. Step-dad starts putting cameras around the house. Things get weirder. And from there anything more would give too much away. But while the first two movies' endings left us largely to wild speculation, I will say that this one ends with something of an explanation of the paranormal activity.

It doesn't really matter in which order you watch these movies. However, each sequel (or in this case prequel) was designed to mold over the events of the previous installment. So watch them in order if it's convenient. I also demand you watch these with the lights off. It makes it easier to avoid distractions while you're concentrating on the screen.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
PA3 entertaining, forgetable
By Plutonis
PA1 scared me. I was checking over my shoulder looking out for any malevolent entities in my house. I adapted to the style, which is why PA2 was less scary. Sure, it had some tense moments but it was the same movie as the first.

PA3 is like PA2. It will make you jump a few times but by now you're getting used to it, so it's losing its power. I predicted the plot for PA3 once a certain character was introduced. The film runs like Blair Witch in the end and leaves a ton of unanswered questions.

Not bad. It's just human nature to adjust to something once you've experienced it enough times.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Worth watching
By Robert G. Splaine Jr.
This is a prequel to the Paranormal Activity film, and this one shows how the haunting of Katie and her sister began. Once again, this one is full of tension, and the filmmakers have been able to maintain a level of quality through three films in the trilogy. The first was quite groundbreaking and hasn't been matched, but the second one was also quite good, the third to a lesser extent. There are some cheap scares in this one, but they provide a bit of levity at times. This should be the last of the trilogy, and is worth seeing.