The Movie
I don't jump on trends, and I'm a little skeptical of sequels. And yet Paranormal Activity 3 is one of the scariest movies I've seen in a long time.
We start abruptly, without so much as a glimpse of the standard Paramountain that reminds us "It's only a movie." The year is 2005 and we see a pregnant, now-familiar Kristi as she agrees to hold a box of old VHS tapes for her sister Katie. Jump ahead to 2006, after all Hell has been breaking loose in Kristi's house, as we saw in Paranormal Activity 2. And the box of tapes is reported missing.
The contents of these VHS cassettes make up the rest of the movie, flashing us back to 1988, when the sisters were merely innocent little moppets, and therein lies so much of 3's considerable power to disturb. They are growing up with their mensch of a stepdad, a wedding videographer, and so he has the equipment and the attitude to record... every moment of their lives it seems. The filmmakers have now thrice picked up the gauntlet thrown by The Blair Witch Project, which introduced the "found footage" genre to the world, and so we must suspend disbelief somewhat to get the most out of this ride.
The family hears one too many weird noises around the house and they set up surveillance cameras. Almost immediately the nightly videos reveal odd but inconclusive images, as if an unwelcome presence is watching, and eventually interacting with them. Young Kristi appears to be the prime target, having made a new invisible friend named Toby, but Dad's concerns are met with the usual skepticism. His fears only grow as the evidence mounts, while little clues begin to drop, one involving a seemingly unrelated coven of witches.
Let's just say that it doesn't end well. For anyone.
This disc includes both the R-rated theatrical version of Paranormal Activity 3 and an Unrated Director's Cut that runs ten minutes longer.
The Picture
The high-bitrate, 16:9 AVC video presentation looks too good for a nitpicker like me to believe it's honestly VHS quality, so I need to evoke that "just go with it" spirit I mentioned earlier. And sure enough the movie transcends, as we stop feeling like we're watching old videos and instead witnessing the lives of these unlucky folks. There are the occasional conspicuous resolution lines, some streaking in motion and strobing over the horizontal blinds on the kitchen windows, but the generally slow pace (another secret to the unsettling mood of the movies) serves well the clean, uncomplicated camerawork. I should also give props to the shadows, which are unexpectedly nuanced.
The Sound
I wouldn't want to watch this one on anything less than Blu-ray: The tiniest noise can set us off, and some are barely audible, so we need the benefits of high-res, multichannel DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for the proper effect. The discrete rears are frequently called upon to taunt us with off-camera action (or "activity"), perhaps a quick bump or thud... or was that a footstep?
When a doorbell rings, the resonance seems to define the entire house, which is a wonderful bit of sonic trickery certainly, but surely not something we'd appreciate from 20-year-old consumer-grade mono equipment. But taken as a hybrid of "evidence" and real life, this well-crafted audio is a boon because it sounds like we're really there, God help us. The track also features plenty of strong, well-utilized low-frequency effects.
The Extras
Adding to the creepy less-is-more vibe, the bonus materials are somewhat sparse. There are about three minutes of "Lost Tapes," most likely deleted scenes. The first shows three attempts by Dad to scare the heck out of Mom, while the second is the deliberately cornball TV commercial for his videography business. Both are in HD.
Disc Two is a DVD of the Unrated version only, plus a Digital Copy for iTunes or Windows Media. A newfangled UltraViolet Digital Copy is also included via a unique printed code.
Final Thoughts
We never quite figure out who is watching these old family videotapes--at one point someone fast-forwards through a scene, so someone is sitting there, remote in hand--or why, and frankly I don't want to know. All I know is that the next time I watch this simple-yet-effective disc, I'll need some company. I just need to sedate the wife and tie her to the sofa.
Product Details
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