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Thursday, April 25, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ****
"Paranormal Activity 3" is a surprising film. Yes, horror films are
expected to shock. Yet the beauty of this film lies in it managing to give you
the creeps even after you have seen the first two. You realise that there isn`t
much new added to this one. That it does so without being cheeky or over the
top, is its greatest strength.
After hearing strange sounds in his new house, a wedding videographer in 1988
decides to fit the house with cameras to record these paranormal activities. His
younger step-daughter however seems to have befriended the paranormal entity
even as the incredulous wife, despite proof, refuses to believe, that is until
something scares her out of her skin.
You have seen the first two and you know how the story progresses and what
happens. You are supposedly immune to the chills and fears since you know how
and where it comes from. What will surprise you hence, is how this film, despite
your self-assurances, manages to sneak up on you and terrorise you.
Just like the first two, this one does not aspire to explain anything to the
audience. Neither does it try bigger sound or visual tricks. Instead, it relies
on the proven formula and tricks of the first two films, and manages to scare
you in the same surreal fashion.
Charlie Chaplin is undoubtedly the greatest filmmaker ever and will perhaps
remain so till the death of cinema. The reason for this is that his films
understand the importance of the purity of cinema to squeeze emotion out of its
audience. What Chaplin did with the comedy genre, the "Paranormal
Activity" series does with horror.
Yet, it was by no means the first to do so. How can anyone forget the game
changer - "Blair Witch Project". Yet, the difference between the two
films of this series, and the three of "Paranormal" is that while the
former tried to do something different in its sequel, the latter absolutely
refuses to do so.
In playing the same tricks it played in the first, and explaining as little, or
even less, it teaches one of the greatest lessons of filmmaking - that
simplicity and minimalism backing a good plot can often do more than expensive
visual effects and a complex plot line.
Usually, a sequel tries to outdo its original. Surprisingly,
"Paranormal" seem to have no such aspirations with all three films
relying on the same bag of tricks. That it continues to feel so fresh, is indeed
the most paranormal activity in the series.
