Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

So… Paranormal Activity 3 is the one of the better horror “threequels,” right? I mean, honestly, what else is in the running? Ignoring obvious losers like Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth and Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest we have a couple worth mentioning in this intro paragraph: The Exorcist III is pretty decent (but we’ll get to that later in Paranormal Octoberty), I’m not sure if Day of the Dead counts because it doesn’t have a “3” in the title but it was also pretty good, Friday the 13th Part III is only really noteworthy because that’s when Jason gets his hockey mask, and Halloween III: Season of the Witch is just bad. I know, I know, the movie has its fans, but they can’t help how wrong they are. But even a not bad film like Paranormal 3 is burdened by its connection to a larger franchise, expanding lore while also complicating it. Like an ongoing comic book! Trust me, that’s a sick burn.

Hey, remember in Paranormal Activity when Katie said she lost all her childhood possessions in a fire? And how in Paranormal Activity 2 the only thing stolen in the opening ransacking was a bracelet? Well both those things are lies as we open with a bunch of childhood tapes getting stored in Kristi’s basement, only to be stolen. Apparently they were stolen by a film editor because this is another prequel in the franchise, this time detailing Katie and Kristi’s childhood interactions with the demon Toby. Oh, yeah, by the way, the demon that attacked Kristi and possessed Katie is named Toby. Or Tobi? Subtitles call him Toby in this one, so that’s what I’m sticking with. He’s Kristi’s “imaginary friend” and as per the previous films, he starts off with little things and escalates dramatically and violently as the movie continues. A lot of his stuff only makes sense through the lens of “the more you fear him the stronger he becomes,” like when he creeps up behind a babysitter wearing a sheet like a ghost–making us think it’s one of the girls–and then disappearing before she turns around. Only mildly unnerving for her, but I think it’s pretty neat. The source of footage this time is from Dennis (Mr. Christopher Nicholas Smith), a wedding videographer who catches some paranormal activity when an earthquake interrupts him attempting to make a sex tape with the girls’ mom, Julia (Lauren Bittner). Convinced something is up, he sets up some VHS film cameras and eventually realizes this most likely is tied to Kristi and her imaginary friend. The usual formula of “hauntings” continue, but this time we get a bunch more lore. The idea of a demonic pact is not only brought up, but when things eventually get so bad the family has to run and stay with the girls’ grandmother, Lois (Hallie Foote), is revealed to actually be a member of the witch cult! It was such an obvious twist that I prefer to focus on the fact that the cult symbol is the same as the Azorius guild in Magic: the Gathering, or the Deathly Hallows symbol minus the bisecting line. In the end Lois has custody of the kids with Dennis and Julia getting killed, and presumably their bodies tossed into a house fire, or something. I’m sure that ties in somewhere, but I refuse to go searching for the supplemental material that would explain the timeline properly.

I also want to give a special shout out to Randy (Dustin Ingram), Dennis’ friend who at one point is watching over Katie when Toby decides to haunt the shit out of the two of them. Randy–for the most part–kept his cool in front of a small child and tried to reassure her even as he was about to shit his pants, and afterwards rightfully said, “Fuck this shit, I’m out.” So a pretty stand-up adult while still being that nerdy friend archetype who pervs out a bit when he sees footage of the babysitter. Nobody’s perfect.

Honestly, the biggest drawback this movie has is that it’s a prequel that had to advance the overarching story. The fact that the movie can’t just end with “and then the girls were preyed upon by the cult who married them to a demon” cuts into the horror of the ending. Like, we know that Katie and Kirsti grow up, forget about Toby–not sure if it’s cult brainwashing, demonic influence, or just blocking out trauma–get married, and have lives. Sure, those lives end when the demon comes back, but an adult getting paranormally activitied hits differently than when it happens to a child. Maybe the creators felt the same way and tried course correcting for Paranormal Activity 4? But we’ll get to that one soon enough.