Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Earlier this month, we got word that James Wan is set to join yet another horror franchise. The director behind the first Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring films has already lent his name to many of the biggest horror successes of the 21st century, and now he’s set to do it again with one of the biggest names in found footage: Paranormal Activity.
Wan’s commitment to producing the upcoming eighth installment in the Paranormal Activity series has given Oren Peli’s beloved found-footage juggernaut a fresh shot in the arm. It’s also, of course, got us thinking back on the franchise so far. Everyone’s got their own views on the highs and lows of Paranormal Activity, but if you ask me, the series never got better than Paranormal Activity 3.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Released in 2011 on the heels of Paranormal Activity 2, the third installment in the series serves as a prequel to the first two found footage blockbusters, taking most of the action back to 1988 to show sisters Katie and Kristi as little girls. When young Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) seem to be experiencing weird incidents involving Kristi’s imaginary friend, the girls’ new potential stepdad, videographer Dennis (Chris Smith), takes action. In classic Paranormal Activity fashion, he places cameras throughout the house, hoping to capture as much evidence of the supernatural as possible. What he finds is, of course, a nightmare that we get to experience along with the family.
Paranormal Activity 3 marked Christopher Landon’s emergence as the series’ sole screenwriter for several years, after co-writing Paranormal Activity 2. Years before he broke through as a director with films like Happy Death Day and Freaky, Landon was already showcasing the clever setpieces and knack for tension that would make him a household name among horror fans right here in this film. Using the two child characters as a kind of fulcrum around which to move the whole movie, Landon infuses humor, heart, and a fresh dose of unpredictability into the narrative, while expanding the lore into something he’d explore over the subsequent three films. It’s also, crucially for me, the Paranormal Activity movie where a character mounts a camera on a classic 1980s oscillating fan to get scenes like this:
Watch A Classic Clip Below
As I said, everyone’s got their favorite Paranormal Activity film, but for me, Paranormal Activity 3 will always have the crown, and I’m not alone there. I’ve talked to so many fellow horror fans who love this movie, and it’s been that way from the beginning. In his review back in 2011, Dread Central’s Steve Barton had this to say: “These movies possess the uncanny ability to follow you home and have your house come alive around you while you’re lying there trying in vain to sleep. The scariest modern horror franchise of the last ten years is alive, well, and staring at you from the foot of your bed.”
So, now that we know the next Paranormal Activity film is on the way, with a horror heavy-hitter in its corner, go back and revisit the franchise’s high point, then maybe watch a few more. It’ll get you excited for what’s to come.
Paranormal Activity 3 is now streaming on Paramount+.
Categorized: Streaming News
