Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

In 1988, young sisters Katie and Kristi befriend an invisible entity who resides in their home.

Directors:

Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Writers:

Christopher Landon, Oren Peli (film "Paranormal Activity")

Stars:

Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Christopher Nicholas Smith

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lauren Bittner	...	Julie
Christopher Nicholas Smith	...	Dennis (as Chris Smith)
Chloe Csengery	...	Katie
Jessica Tyler Brown	...	Kristi (as Jessica Brown)
Hallie Foote	...	Grandma Lois
Dustin Ingram	...	Randy Rosen
Johanna Braddy	...	Lisa
Katie Featherston	...	Adult Katie
Brian Boland	...	Daniel
Sprague Grayden	...	Adult Kristi
William Juan Prieto	...	Hunter (as William Prieto)
Jackson Xenia Prieto	...	Hunter (as Jackson Prieto)
Paitoon Cheng	...	Ida
Eddie Medrano	...	Party Magician
Rebecca Delgado Smith	...	Crying Bridesmaid

Storyline

In 1988, in California, cinematographer Dennis moves to the house of his girlfriend Julie to raise a family with her daughters Katie and Kristi. Little Kristi has an imaginary friend named Toby while weird things happen in the house. Dennis decides to place cameras in the house to capture images during the night and soon he finds that there is an entity in the house. Dennis's friend Randy Rosen (Dustin Ingram) researches the events and learns that his house might be a coven of witches and the children may be in danger.

---

Plot Keywords:

looking at oneself in a mirror | no music | younger version of character | 1980s | supernatural horror | 

---

Taglines:

It Runs In The Family

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence, language, brief sexuality and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Actividad paranormal 3

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$52,568,183, 23 October 2011, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$104,007,828, 1 January 2012

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$207,039,844, 11 November 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Solana Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min 94 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS Datasat Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 1h 12 mins) The symbols that appear behind the pictures in Grandma Lois's house are simplified versions of the Pentagram of Solomon (inverted) and the Triangle of Solomon, symbols depicted in the "Lesser Key of Solomon" and used to summon and constrain demons in classical Goethic Theurgy.

---

Goofs

(at around 22 mins) Dennis gave Kristi and Katie some M&Ms the night they slept outside in the tent. One of the girls ate a blue M&M. This movie was set in 1988, but blue M&Ms weren't introduced until 1995.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Daniel: [documenting behind the camera] You'll be spending a lot of time in here. This is gonna be your room. There's some kind of animal being de-liced or something. Compression chamber, that's your crib. It's hermetically sealed. And this is your paint color. What color is that, hon?
Adult Kristi: Jamaica bay blue.

---

Crazy Credits

In the middle of the closing credits, in keeping with the 1988 period of the film, the Paramount logo that was used circa 1988 is shown.

---

Alternate Versions

Includes an unrated director's cut and "lost tapes" (Dennis' pranking Julie and a commercial of his video company.)

---

Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.24 (2011)

---

Soundtracks

Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Written by Jack Dolgen (as Jack Selig Dolgen)
Performed by Josh Koenigsberg, Henry Joost & Jack Dolgen (as Jack Selig Dolgen)

User Reviews

The Demon Cometh

I am over thirty years old and I have seen a lot of horror films (including the first two Paranormal Activity films) and if you asked me what the scariest film I've ever seen is, I will search through my memory banks and pick out a film and say, "Well that was scary if that happened in real life." But not really putting the film in the same category as "hold your breath and walk out feeling drained because it scared the heck out of me" type of film. Finally, I was able to see a film that legitimately scared me, and it happens to be a third film in a franchise. Who says sequels are always bad?

The film is back to being a prequel, focusing on Katie and Kristi when they were little kids. They have a skeptic mom, and a dad who looks suspiciously like Micah from the first film. He's a videographer and he likes to record things all the time (like the first two movies) and after an earthquake erupts, he discovers that an invisible figure emerges from the dust. So naturally, he wants to keep recording to find out what it is, and what he discovers is that its an invisible friend named Tobi who has some connection with the little daughters.

Upon watching Paranormal Activity 3, it felt like there was a board meeting after the second film and they listened to all the bad-mouthing, spoofs, and also took in an account of what scared people (prepare for an homage of the kitchen scene of the second film) and culminated all of this together into an Alchemy Pot and born what could be the scariest film to date. The theater I saw it with was screaming at all the scary parts, especially when the demon terrorizes the little girls; all the way up to a tension filled ending that left many not wanting to look at the screen. The filmmakers knew how to use timing and tension to generate the scares, and that's really the fun of these movies. It's the tension building and the creative payoff on what they provide for scares. My friend said it best where she said, "It was like a roller coaster ride that I couldn't get out of." It's really that intense.

The only thing that sucks is that some of good parts in all the trailers didn't make it to the final cut. I'm hoping for an extended release on the DVD like they did with the last film because it will make it that much more exciting. Seriously, forget your complaints from the last two films and give this film a go. There is a lot of fun to be had, and it's a great way to celebrate Halloween this year.