Plot - What's it all about?

few years ago history was made when "Paranormal Activity" made its debut to the tune of over $100 million at the box office. The film was made on a shoestring budget and no doubt Paramount (the distributor) was happy when the numbers started to roll in. As is the case with anything and everything that makes money in Hollywood, there was soon a "Paranormal Activity 2" which didn't do much different. It was also very successful and followed the same essential format as the first. Now we've got the third installment that again, doesn't change too terribly much. And as I look at IMDB to see the box office, I see that it too has garnered over $100 million at the domestic box office. Fascinating. I'm trying to pinpoint exactly what it is about these films that have audiences coming back to see them time and again. Then again "The Hangover II" was pretty much the exact same movie as the first and it made nearly $200 million. Go figure. I'll go on the assumption that if you're reading this, you'll have seen the first two movies in the series. If not, that's ok as it's probably best if these movies are watched in reverse order anyway.

The film starts out in 2005 as sisters Katie (Katie Featherson) and Kristi (Sprague Grayden) are visiting. Kristi is expecting a child and notices an old box of VHS tapes. Flash forward a year and the house is trashed and the only thing missing is the box of tapes. We then go back to 1988 when both Katie and Kristi are children and see things from their point of view. Their mother (Lauren Bittner) has a new husband (Christopher Nicholas Smith) who works as a wedding videographer. Katie (Chloe Csengery) seems to have an imaginary friend by the name of Toby, though neither her sister (Jessica Tyler Brown) or her parents seem to put much stock in it. And then some things start to happen. Things go bump in the night which prompts Dennis (Smith) to set up some of his video cameras to keep an eye on things. As the happenings become more and more prevalent, the paranoia increases. Finally the family retreats to Julia's mother's (Maria Olsen) house where things finally come to a head.

If you've seen the other "Paranormal Activity" films then this one is really no different save from the actors and the time in which the events took place. All three work on the most basic of levels and that's probably what makes them so successful. I do hope I'm not giving anything away when I say that the movies seem to go backwards in time. By that I mean that the first movie actually takes place last in relation to the time frame. It's actually probably best to watch these movies in reverse and Paramount has actually thought of this (how nice of them). All three films will be available in a digital download in a seamless chronological order. How cool is that? I've no idea how many more installments of these films we'll see, but if they can keep making movies for $5 million and making $100 million on them, I'm guessing there'll be some more.

Video - How's it look?

It's kind of hard to assign a video score to these films as we see the movie through the eyes of a video camera. The first two films were of a DV quality, but with this one we're forced to watch it via, ugh, VHS. Of course this one wasn't shot on VHS, but that is the intended effect. Nevertheless, the 1.78:1 AVC HD transfer is a bit hit and miss, though I'm positive the effect is intentional. We get a variety of film formats from the bluish images seen at night to the over enhanced images shot indoors during the day. Again, this is consistent with the other films in the series so there's more of the same to expect here.

Audio - How's it sound?

By and large the "Paranormal Activity" films are all dialogue driven with some very long scenes of really nothing happening with the audio. Yes, there are a few instances of a "THOOMP!" or a "THUD!" that do give the audience a little jolt, but the main action taking place is the dialogue. It's a bit muffled, but I feel it's true to the source (the video cameras). The audio is by no means bad, but don't expect it to be the highlight of your collection. This DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack does have a few moments, but they're few and far between.

Supplements - It's all about the extras...

Paramount is obviously banking on the success of the film (or the franchise) as the extras here are very sparce. The main draw is the extended version of the film which adds some 15 minutes to the theatrical cut. Having never seen the film in theaters, I don't really know what was added but the theatrical version is there as well. The only "extras" of note are "Lost Tapes" and "Scare Scenes" which is a collection of three scenes in which we see what a practical joker Dennis is to his wife. There's a digital copy of the film as well on this two-disc set.

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