PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3

title: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3
year: 2011
cast: Christopher Nicholas Smith, Lauren Bittner, Jessica Tyler-Brown
rating: **

This third installment to the popular low-budget horror franchise deals with two daughters; a mother; and a curious step-dad glued to a video camera. Three cameras in fact: one placed inside the master bedroom, one in the children’s room, and another – revolving on a fan base – showing the kitchen and living room. And as pioneered in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, what's recorded is all we see. It’s difficult to tell which camera, all previewed the next morning, tells a scarier tale – probably the kid’s since the youngest talks to “Toby,” a demon that doesn’t like to be messed with. (Or maybe he does!) The overall problem isn’t the underlying creepy vibe, giving the feeling that anything can happen at… any… given... moment… But that not enough does happen: save for a couple shakes, some furniture moving, and a cool scene involving the sexy babysitter having a really bad night. Yet the loudest actual scream occurs during what horror directors call a cheap shot: one of the characters playing a joke on our camera-happy protagonist. So then when the family finally moves out... venturing over to grandma’s house... you’ll wonder why the entire thing didn’t take place in this spooky Gothic dwelling where we really feel vulnerable and doomed. And that’s the point, right?