After years of reviewing horror flicks, it is ironic that I seldom use the word "scary" to describe a genre flick. I often use adjectives such as "fun", "entertaining", or "gory", but rarely do I talk about my heart pounding and having a general sense of unease. It happens from time to time with movies like The Blair Witch Project and The Descent coming to mind but it is not often that I encounter a movie that reminds me why I was drawn to the genre in the first place: to have that adrenaline rush of fear in a safe environment. So far, the Paranormal Activity movies have delivered in this respect and the third instalment continues the tradition. It doesn't help that I am currently in a house that may or may not be haunted; a notion that was certainly playing on my mind as I watched this alone after everyone else was asleep. I'll say it, these movies freak me out and I like it.

The intertwining plotline from the first two movies continues in this one where we are given a brief introductory scene featuring the sisters that we have come to know and then the movie flashes back to their childhood and settles in for the duration in the year 1988. We are introduced to young Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Brown) and their mother Julie (Lauren Bittner) along with her boyfriend Dennis (Chris Smith). The new family has recently moved into a house and before long Dennis starts to suspect that something strange is afoot since Kristi has started a relationship with an imaginary friend. His suspicion is confirmed after an attempt to make a sex tape with Julie is foiled by an earthquake and he sees what appears to be a figure in the image when reviewing the footage. This prompts Dennis to set up another couple of cameras in the house and a series of reliably freaky set pieces follow. Eventually, the family relocate to the home of Julie's mother where we are treated to a finale that got under my skin even though I did not fully understand the events that took place. This does not make me angry but instead makes me look forward to the next instalment where hopefully more is revealed.

The tale of two sisters that has been explored in the first two movies in this franchise is successfully expanded in this instalment offering a look into how their problems began in their childhood years. I usually avoid horror movies that involve children (with the exception of The Exorcist) as I find that this angle often does not work well. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (known for the controversial documentary entitled Catfish) have a confident handle on the subject matter and use the children in a way that does not exploit them for cheap scares but rather as an exploration of the events that made the adult characters that we have come to know end up the way that they did. This allows us to have an insight as to what happened before the events of the first two movies and will hopefully provide some explanation as to why things ended up the way that they did. The way that this story has been told makes me want to revisit the first two movies and look at the entire series again. Rather than come off as the "cash in" that many sequels appear to be, Paranormal Activity 3 feels like it was already planned in advance as part of the mythology of the family. This becomes even more likely when you consider that writer Christopher Landon (son of Michael) penned the previous and subsequent instalments as well.

The makers of this series have been on a roll since Oren Peli gave us the first movie in 2007. The originality of the idea has not been lost and the third instalment delivers the scares just as effectively as the first two flicks. I love how Joost and Schulman execute some twists on old ideas such as the legend of Bloody Mary and the traditional ghost as a white sheet and play on childhood fears that many of us had (and some of us still do). I really enjoy these flicks as they have me checking over my shoulder and making sure the door is locked in a way that I have not experienced since seeing the first Nightmare on Elm Street as a tween. Hopefully, the powers that be know when this series is going to jump the shark and end it on a high note rather than becoming a cliché of itself. So far, so good.

Review based on Unrated director's cut. (Josh Pasnak, 5/16/13)

Directed By: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman.
Written By: Christopher Landon.

Starring: Lauren Bittner, Chris Smith, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Brown.