Finally, a "Paranormal Activity" movie that is actually scary.

This was a pleasant surprise. Paranormal Activity 3 is a nice, effective horror movie, better than the first two combined.

And some of you are probably saying, “But Will, the first Paranormal Activity was revolutionary. It was a great exercise in mounting tension for a good hour and a half and so on and all that jazz…” I agree. While the first PA almost verged on experimental, it still worked for most audiences, yet there are a couple of things the first one didn’t have that the third one does: likeable characters and capable actors. Raise your hand if you’re one of those who got so annoyed with the boyfriend from the first movie. Raise your other hand if you got irked by Katie Featherston’s mechanical acting. In Paranormal Activity 3, the characters are human beings we can actually root for.

Guess which one has evil in her blood.

What I also like about this third installment is that the lead character actually has a reason to own a lot of cameras. Dennis shoots wedding videos for a living. In the house he has his own office in which he keeps all his tapes and recording equipment. It is also a great help that the actor portraying him exhibits a sort of happy-go-lucky demeanor, all the more reason for us to become convinced when he suddenly goes about installing cameras around the house.

Since this film, a prequel to the first two titles, is set during the late 1980’s, the time of the Betamax, Dennis still has to make do with the simple technology available to him. You’ll be hearing a lot about how he uses an oscillating fan as a moving tripod. Not only is it a way for us to say, “Hey, that’s a great idea,” it is also a good opportunity for the directors to scare our wits when the camera slowly turns toward the left and captures a ghost inside a sheet.

Of course, it’s not a perfect film. The ending still leaves much to our imagination, which is a shame, considering how the story is nicely built up only to end that way. There are still parts where we wish Dennis would drop the camera and run for his life, but in the end, we are left with no choice but to suspend our disbelief and simply enjoy the ride. Yes, PA3 actually has a good amount of scares.

Final note: Don't be fooled by the trailer. Almost everything it shows is not included in the movie.