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Horror films are traditionally packed full of tense, unnervingly quiet scenes. The kind of tense, unnervingly quiet scenes that are tarnished somewhat when you can hear Elton John belting out ‘The Circle of Life’ (and an array of other catchy, Oscar nominated delights) in The Lion King 3D from the screening next door.
But watching Paranormal Activity 3, it’s the elephant in the room that needs addressing, not the lions. The film is the third instalment in something of a cookie cutter franchise. The producers have found a winning recipe (financially at least) and seem rather determined to stick to it. So the chances are you’ll already have a fairly good idea of whether or not this is a film for you.
That’s not to say that directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (of Catfish fame) don’t bring anything new to the franchise. The first third of the film, for example, allows for some lighter moments, as the directors flesh out the characters and even play with the premise slightly.
It also helps that the narrative is set eighteen years before its predecessors, which means that whilst the focus is still on Katie and Kristi, they are now young children living with their Mum and her boyfriend Dennis, which gives this instalment a slightly new angle. We all know how creepy kids can be.
Kristi, for example, has a new imaginary friend named Toby. Despite the unsettlingly secretive nature of Kristi and Toby’s conversations (all held over imaginary cups of tea), Mum thinks it’s just a phase. Dennis, on the other hand, notices that ever since Toby has been around, there have been some rather strange things happening. Paranormal things. He decides to place video cameras around the house to see exactly what’s going on – something which the franchise has managed to render entirely normal activity.
Cue endless night vision shots of furniture and fittings in mortal peril. Same old, same old. But Joost and Schulman manage to add enough tweaks and touches of their own to still leave me bloody terrified.
The film, as always, takes a while to get going, but the tension and tantalisation can be just as scary as any action, and this could be the tensest Paranormal Activity yet. The oscillating camera that Dennis fashions using a desk fan is particularly proficient in producing nerve-shredding set-pieces.
Even the moments of pay-off seem to have been improved. A game of Bloody Mary, for example, has particularly terrifying consequences. Bet that’ll teach Katie for playing ghost-baiting games in a haunted house.
The film doesn’t relent as it heads towards its inevitably harrowing crescendo. Whilst the last few scenes largely don’t disappoint, I couldn’t help but be disappointed by the actual ending, which was too abrupt and too concerned with leaving the door open for further prequels/sequels.
So while Paranormal Activity 3 may be a box-ticking film, as it unashamedly follows the Paranormal Activity checklist, it manages to bring just enough new ideas to the table to stop this latest entry from feeling stale. It may not win any of its detractors round in the process, but that doesn’t matter because for the fans, it still manages to tick the most important box of all: it’s downright scary.
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