Paranormal Activity 3 Post-Release

I liked the bulk of it more than Paranormal Activity 2, but the ending really rubbed me the wrong way.  I had no idea I was paying to see The Last Exorcism 2.

I'll be watching this later today. But do they give a hint on what happens to Kristi after the first film?

I actually liked it the most of the three. It has the most scares, the most laughs, the most likeable characters. To Perfect Weapon's point, there's quite a bit from the trailers that isn't in the movie. I don't think it detracts from the experience. But there must be a pile of deleted scenes. Curious why they cut them. The film itself, though, moves at an incredible pace.

I was really surprised just how good the little girls were.   They seemed natural and credit must go to the director, who got great performances from them.

The mom and boyfriend and boyfriend's pal weren't nearly as good, imo.

Part 4 will have to be heavy on the mythology, I'm afraid.  The ending almost spoils a really good, spooky middle section.  

I loved that whole sequence with the babysitter. So unnerving and such a great payoff.

Babysitter scene was the best! It had the best use of the best gimmick, the oscillating fan camera!

The ending was stupid! Like every Paranormal Activity movie. On the whole, I'd say it came damn close to being as good as the original. Much better than the last one. But really, in all three cases, these are movies that I find it almost impossible to retain. They're devices, more so than any other horror franchise I can think of. That's not a bad thing, and whenever these movies are turning the screws and not worrying about witch mythology, they're playing to their strengths.

As such, I saw this on opening night in Time Square, with the surliest, most disrespectful audience that could be found. I recommend this to everyone, it makes the movie much better.

My favorite was when Dennis brings his camera and turns on the light to reveal all these wrinkled faces in the dark!

He doesn't even react.  The camera's movement says it all!  "UGH.  OLD PEOPLE!"  And he just turns away and goes the other way!  Hahahahahaha

I enjoy these as 3 haunted house experiences that are exactly the same.  I saw the last two with an opening night audience and I don't plan to see them again.

Loved the way they used the Moving "Living Room" shot. It really adds to the suspense.

But yeah, those last 10 mins seems out of place. It's always like a deleted scene from THE BELIEVERS.

Anyone want to bet that when PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 comes out, it'll be done COPS style (Like that X-Files episode years back)? With a Private Investigator hunting down a missing Katie and Hunter.

The direction they go with in the third act raises a lot more questions than it answers, but I still enjoyed it.  The brief shot of the bonfire ceremony outside was nice and creepy.  

I'm going to assume the next film will deal with Randy, as he is the first loose end the series has introduced.  He took a bunch of tapes with him, didn't he?

Overall, I liked it a little better than the 2nd and about on par with the original.  I missed staring at adult Katie's awesome rack, though.  Alas.  

So am I right to assume that this coven will bring to their death those who do not fulfill their desire to see a son born in this bloodline?  I don't remember the 2nd one very well, but they really went after the boy.  I guess after resulting in two daughters, the evil mother-in-law got the girls' real dad out of the way.  Then her own daughter (if she's her real mother at all) as well when she refused to have anymore kids?

I didn't think the last 10 minutes felt out of place.  If these movies are resolute to expand on its mythology, this seemed like a fine way to go.

Interesting that they've finally managed to make the male characters somewhat likable this time. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

I enjoy these as 3 haunted house experiences that are exactly the same.  I saw the last two with an opening night audience and I don't plan to see them again.

Totally.  I only saw PA/PA2 again this week for the first time since opening night(s).  These things just work with a giant crowd of people who want to scream and laugh.  The masked-mom jump scare is sort of the perfect example.

Friends all wanted to go last night so I saw it again.  Ending played better for me the second time.  This is definitely a better flick than PA2.

I can't help but admire a movie series that 'fools' audiences into giving it their undivided laser focused attention for most of its runtime for just a handful of payoff.  All done with long static (or now oscillating) shots in near total silence!

Yay for hyper awareness!

I don't think I've seen a movie that had pretty much zero scenes from the trailer in it. All the stuff I was expecting to see wasn't there. This might have annoyed me with something I'd been all excited about, but for a quickie horror film, that's kind of awesome.

I was actually considering putting the trailer for this in Kate's One-Off Trailer thread.  But I figured I'd hold off on that.  I liked that the Bloody Mary scene with the two girls was specifically made for the trailer (I assume).

Had to see this film in the theater and saw it with a packed house. No other way to watch these movies. Anyone else think the mom had a nice ass? The chick from the first film had a good rack, so if we could combine these two somehow....now that I'm done objectifying women, here are a few things about the film:

1. The kids did a great job

2. The step-dad kinda reminded me of James Franco for some reason (do we know what happened to the real dad)

3. Anyone else notice the napkin holder? What was it? Seemed kinda creepy and I spent most of my time during those shots trying to figure out what it was, so when it was gone that one scene, YOWZERS!

4. Liked the implementation of the 80's nostalgic toys for scares. Who had a Teddy Ruxpin that talked on its own occasionally?

5. The directors did a good job of making the characters likable.

The mom actually reminded me of a more shapely Anna Friel. 

Teddy Ruxpin was behind EVERYTHING.  Nice use of LiteBrite!

So I need to go back and watch parts 1 and 2 I guess, but was it ever mentioned before by Katie or Kristi that there mom died when they were young and that they were raised by there grandmother? All I remember is that there house supposedly burned down when they were young...

I did like that the picture that the stepdad took of Katie towards the beginning was the picture found in the attic in pasrt 1/used to transfer the the demon to her in part 2.  But overall, I feel this is probably the weakest of the 3.  They really either need to take the series in a new direction (new characters, etc.), or figure out a way to continue Katie's story.

EDIT: But yeah, the mom was HOT.

Sorry, this is an awkward question. Was going to see this tonight, but my wife's mother recently passed due to cancer. So anything with dead mums is just something she can't take right now. How much does the dead mum aspect play in the film? 

A very large part. Especially in the ending. It'll be a little unsettling in your case.

Yeah, I would skip it dude.

Ah. Thank you. 

In that case, I won't be seeing this for a long time. Can I get a spoiler reveal then, just to see what it is?

Well, here you go.

Hmmmmmm, that doesn't seem as bad as I was worried about. But yeah, I'll have to give this a miss. Thanks everyone.

Speaking of the babysitter scene: So that demon's pretty short huh?

But yeah, the first time the camera panned over and the "ghost" was standing in the corner by the door, I just about shit.  I'm so glad that wasn't a "prank" scare.

Liked it more than the second one. In general I enjoy the way the camera stares with a completely dead eye at a silent room until something subtly happens. The technique in itself is eerie.

Roger Ebert: "The formula for the films involves pallid characters, perfunctory dialogue and very long waits for something to happen. When something does, it's often a sudden shock accompanied by a startling musical chord."

Wait, did I see a different cut of the film wherein there's no music whatsoever? The lack of musical stings is part of what makes these films so effective for me.

Likely more of Ebert's factual inaccuracies.

I've said it before in the thread for the 2nd movie, but I love the way these movies strip most everything we know about horror movies away so that we end up filling in those horror trope blanks in our own heads.

I don't doubt that Ebert heard a startling musical chord... in his head.

Maybe it's just because this was the only PA movie I saw in a theater, but I definitely had the most fun with this one of the three.  There were some truly fucked up "holy shit" moments that had the audience going NUTS.   

It was really annoying though, that about half the crowd being teenage girls who just couldn't shut the hell up.  Subtle noises are a major part of these movies, and all the nervous giggling and screaming was a major distraction.  I'm curious to see how this plays on my home system with the sound pumped up and the lights turned out.

LOVED the money shot at the end with Dennis. Ouch!   Between that, the babysitter, Bloody Mary and the kitchen disappearing .. this one had more memorable moments for me out of the three.  I barely remembered most of PA2, I doubt I'll forget this one!

As has been said endlessly, though, these films really do gain from the audience experience. I was actually disappointed that my crowd (a Sunday-afternoon showing) wasn't more vocal.

Black people and white people can agree on one thing: there's no audience like a predominantly black audience for a horror movie. One of the Final Destination flicks, black dude seated next to me kept saying "Aw yeah, that nigga gonna die." Dude was more entertaining than the movie itself.

When the mom was taking a toke, someone critiqued loudly, "HOLD IT IN!" That comment stood out above the rest at my screening.

Reading reviews and others takes on this flick, it seems weird that PA2 is held in a more unfavorable light. I liked it quite a bit at the time and thought it offered some other scares that the first one didn't, including bigger and louder scares and a better pre-climax (before Katie comes in breaking necks). Although, her coming in and quietly taking the baby was pretty chilling....not sure if I want to see the resolution to that in a sequel.

All in all I think they are on equal footing, offering a similar thrill ride experience in the theaters that is dependent on extraneous factors such as crowd, sound system, time of day, etc. PA1 might be scary to watch in bed with a significant other.

Never saw the first or second movie. But I will now. I loved the shit outta this.

Both are on Netflix right now.

Interesting. I really liked both Paranormal Activity films and came away from this one disappointed.

I felt the first two had better pacing and scares. This one felt a bit stale. The coven angle sounds good but as played didn't do much for me.

These are one time viewing experiences and nothing more. As such I was disappointed so unless word of mouth is through the roof I will be skipping next years entry.

Still I admire these films for the reasons already mentioned. Compared to Saw and its ilk they are a breath of fresh air.

This series beats Saw all the way. No question about it.

I do wish they kept the "Bloody Mary" scene from the Trailer in the Final Cut though.

Paranormal Activity 1 & 3 are the only movies I've seen in the theatres, where I've heard someone near me crying from fright. When Katie gets dragged down the hall in the first, and during the Bloody Mary scene in this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by felix 

This series beats Saw all the way. No question about it.

LEPRECHAUN beats SAW. It's not really a challenge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by felix 

This series beats Saw all the way. No question about it.

 

I do wish they kept the "Bloody Mary" scene from the Trailer in the Final Cut though.

They kinda-sorta did. There was the actual Bloody Mary scene ("Someone clawed me!"), and later the glimpse of the Bloody Mary-looking shape in a doorway.

But yeah, I know what you mean. The way it's done in the trailer is pretty creepy.

Before I knew much about 3, I figured this would be an all-new story with characters that didn't have anything to do with the Katie/Kristi "mythology." I sort of wish that's what they'd done. You really don't go to these things wanting to know more about what does the fucked-up shit in the dark. You go wanting fucked-up shit in the dark.

Sequels in general overexplain shit and kill the true horror. You go home from 3 and you're like "Well, that's not gonna happen to me, I don't have some weird coven and no-male-children thing in my family." You go home from 1 and you freak out at every creak because the seeming randomness of it is still intact — it randomly picked Katie (as far as you know) and it could randomly pick you too.

Same with Halloween II. The first one, Michael Myers was hunting you down for no apparent reason. That's scary. The second one: aha! he's hunting you down because you're his sister (or are in close proximity to his sister). That's not scary. It makes it specific to the people on the screen. That's why horror movies shouldn't have "mythology." This is why, even though the original Friday the 13th is of course dogshit next to the original Halloween, I actually prefer the Friday the 13th series in toto to the Halloween series. The Friday the 13th movies have no "mythology." Jason is alive again for whatever retarded reason, and he's going to kill you, and that's it. There's no "Oh, Jason is after Mary McFinalgirl in this sequel because her grandfather shaved his balls once and the pubes fell onto an Indian burial ground." No. You're there, Jason's there, you're dead. (We can also substitute the Nightmare on Elm Street series, which didn't have much of a mythology either.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Blank  This is why, even though the original Friday the 13th is of course dogshit next to the original Halloween, I actually prefer the Friday the 13th series in toto to the Halloween series. The Friday the 13th movies have no "mythology." Jason is alive again for whatever retarded reason, and he's going to kill you, and that's it. There's no "Oh, Jason is after Mary McFinalgirl in this sequel because her grandfather shaved his balls once and the pubes fell onto an Indian burial ground."

Please, Martin, for your own good, don't watch JASON GOES TO HELL this Hallowe'en. I can just picture you with the single tear, Indian-style.

Forgot about that one. I think I'll forget about it again right now. What Jason Goes to Hell? You're talking crazy.

5 Scenes that weren't in the movie.

Weird.  I never saw any of those other trailer scenes aside from the Bloody Mary one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

Weird.  I never saw any of those other trailer scenes aside from the Bloody Mary one.

There was also a scene showing the girl jumping off the ledge overlooking the living room and the house burning down.

This was not nearly as scary as I was led to believe.  Let down.

  I hate to admit it, when a reviewer from Ain't It Cool said "the last 15 minutes will mess you up for life", they weren't far off. I left the theater unnerved by what I saw. It seemed like the jump scares where done to lure you into a false sense of security. You go ahh then laugh at it. The really scary stuff got to me. Katie running into Toby and getting lifted up by hair got a gasp from me.

   The mom was really hot. She looked like a 30 something Katy Perry.

   Dennis was a good dude. He could just ran for it, but he tried to do the right thing and save the kids. That is what got him killed. As a cynic, that seemed believable to me.  I knew Katie was going to flip out on him at the end* but it still worked.

  I like PA2 but it is the weakest. It was more of the same from the first one, just some of it was shot with security cameras.

  A good chunk of the audience laughed at the Jack and Jill trailer. I didn't like that. I didn't like it at all.

*A good call back to the first one.

Caught all 3 PA movies this weekend.  I much prefer this series to the SAW franchise (but, like everyone else in this thread has said, that's not that high of a bar to top) and was wondering what avenues they could take with a fourth installment.  Obviously they could go even more prequel-ly about the deal the family made with the demon but I'm not sure how you shoehorn in the found footage angle in that scenario.  Another would be to pick up with the step-sister from PA2 going to look for Katie and Hunter and documenting everything?  I'm also hoping they don't continue to over-explain everything about the demon HALLOWEEN 6 style.  Over-explaining kills everything.

I'm wondering if the found-footage thing is more trouble than it's worth at this point - still finding ways to finagle it in there will become increasingly eye-rolling.  Still, I loved the oscillating fan trick PA3 employed.  I guess the next evolution would be to update it and have present kids using cell phone video?

I LOVED this. I love how grandma is Emperor Palpatine and Toby is Darth Maul.

My heart sank when Dennis was walking around grandma's house and all the paintings were on the floor with symbols drawn behind them.

And the strange looking African painting in grandma's hallway is hanging in Kristie's house in PA2.

Demons are scary, but I found grandma and all the creepy old ladies far more terrifying. I knew grandma was in on it as soon as they got to her house, but when Dennis heard cars in the driveway at 1 a.m., I knew things were about to get waaaaaaaaay more screwed up than just Toby's shenanigans. 

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

And as epic as the falling kitchen furniture was, I was way more unsettled by Toby appearing under the kid-sized sheet behind the babysitter.

It still perplexes me that these films are touted as perfect theater viewing experiences. I just don't see them as fun thrill ride type movies. They're deliberately paced and relatively quiet, and are about shattering the illusion of safety within the confines of home. So if you're actually looking to be scared by them, doesn't it make the most sense to watch them at home, at night, alone, with all the lights off, where you'll be looking over your shoulder into the shadows and getting startled by every little creak you hear? It does to me. Something like DRAG ME TO HELL seems like the perfect theatrical horror film, and despite a few instances of people being dragged in each of these films, I see them as a different beast. But then I also don't really think the mythology detracts that much from the effectiveness (although they're threatening to bog the films down in it too much now, I agree). For one thing, don't you guys have any imagination? I don't need the characters to be universally relatable blank slates for me to be able to play "what if" and put myself in their shoes. And if a scene of horror or suspense is well-executed it can work on a primal, visceral level so that the plot details don't matter as much in the moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Benenson 

 

But then I also don't really think the mythology detracts that much from the effectiveness (although they're threatening to bog the films down in it too much now, I agree). For one thing, don't you guys have any imagination? I don't need the characters to be universally relatable blank slates for me to be able to play "what if" and put myself in their shoes. And if a scene of horror or suspense is well-executed it can work on a primal, visceral level so that the plot details don't matter as much in the moment.

I agree with this.

I guess it's the difference between something being conceptually scary and scary... aesthetically, I guess? I mean, a really frightening image or sound is frightening in spite of the specifics of context, and suspense in some cases just depends on the context of the scene rather than the overarching narrative or backstory. So when you're watching the scene from the camera on the oscillating fan base, you're not thinking "well it doesn't matter because my ancestors haven't made a pact with the devil" or whatever, you're probably thinking "Oh fuck, what's going to be there when it pans back?" And this is a silly sidenote, but how do you know your ancestors weren't in a coven of witches or something? That backstory is adding a little bit of remove for the audience, but not that much. On a basic level it's still about being victimized by circumstances beyond your control.

It's just the old wheeze about Horror, how the more you pin down and define something, the easier it is to deal with it. The way Lovecraft books would have lost a ton of their power if he described the Old Ones any more than something about tentacle shapes.The reason I don't like the mythology is that I just don't think it's very well done or interesting, although that only really applies to PA2, whose infectious stink spreads a bit over the other two movies in this regard. I think they would have been better off doing a new set of circumstances in every entry, although to be fair, they've done a pretty good job about not repeating the same scenes over and over, so maybe I'm talking out my ass here. I do know that if I were in charge of the next one, it would be more or less unrelated to the sisters and would probably feature ghost hunters. I hope they don't go nuts trying to link every single film to this family somehow, which is the kind of interconnected wankery that finally made the Saw movies unbearable.