Australia's Best Movie Magazine

Film reviews

Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

search the site

Enter search term:

newsletter

Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter

Enter search term:

Paranormal Activity 3 (Film)

by Anthony O'Connor | October 20, 2011 16:36 | Edited October 20, 2011 16:37

A solid, mostly entertaining supernatural thriller.

Paranormal Activity 3 continues the found footage conceit of the first two films and gives us an old school prequel. Set in 1988, the story focuses on Katie and Kristi (the sisters from PA and PA2 respectively) as young girls and the spooky shenanigans wrought by a mysterious entity known simply as "Toby". It attempts to flesh out the back story of the first two films and bring much needed life to the franchise after the deadly boring, pool-cleaner watching tedium of PA2.

The good, and somewhat surprising, news is that PA3 succeeds for the most part, although the "activity" is ratcheted up so high you do wonder how the young girls ever forgot. Still, what would you prefer in your frights flicks: a stringent adherence to real world logic or cool, spooky moments up on screen? The filmmakers here have thankfully gone for the latter option.

Things start off predictably with the typical slow burn tension as furniture moves, lights flicker and things go bump in the night. What makes PA3 better than average is that the characters are all quite appealing, particularly Julie and Dennis, but even the dorky best friend and hot babysitter have something to offer. They're allowed to be funny or silly, not just snarky and dim-witted - a problem that frequently plagues found footage flicks. This lighter touch charms the viewer into a submissive state so that some of the rather alarming plot holes towards the end of the film can be forgiven and, indeed, enjoyed.

Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman seem to realise that when a horror franchise reaches part three you'd best up the ante. So PA3's second half has genuinely eye-opening frights and twists and surprises. Paranormal Activity 3 isn't a genre classic - there are moments where you'll wonder why the hell the characters don't just put the camera down - but the story and cast are engaging enough that you'll forgive it and have a good time. If you hated the first two or loathe found footage films in general this won't change your mind but PA3 is a solid, mostly entertaining supernatural thriller.