#15: Paranormal Activity
As I'm getting older, I'm starting to get more into scary movies. So I finally decided it was time to see this trilogy. Begin full day marathon session! The first movie of the series is about Katie and her boyfriend Micah who have just moved in together. Weird things start happening in their house so Katie tells Micah about how she's experienced paranormal occurrences ever since she was little. Micah decides to film the experiences to try and figure out what is going on and to have documentation of the events. I rate the movie a 6.5 out of 10. Since I had heard so much about the film before I saw it, it took away from the scariness factor and the fact that I knew at least part of the ending really made it fall flat. Plus, there are some continuity issues with the later films. You can tell that they hadn't planned for any sequels, but decided on them when it got popular. Decent scary movie but certainly not the scariest I've ever seen.
#16: Paranormal Activity 2
The second movie of the trilogy intertwines story lines with the first film, but centers around Katie's sister Kristi who has just brought home her newborn son Hunter. A weird break-in happens not too long after the arrival of Hunter and it shakes the family up. Kristi mentions to her sister about what happened when they were little and how she thinks something might be happening again. Katie tells her to forget about it and let it go; this is mere weeks before the events of the first film. Things continue to get stranger and stranger, but to keep the integrity of my synopsis I won't continue. I rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10. Better suspense building than the first film and I would say overall, a bit scarier than the first.
#17: Paranormal Activity 3
This was the film of the trilogy I was most excited to see because I had not heard anything about it except seeing the trailer, which had freaked me out. This film of the trilogy is all about Katie and Kristi when they are younger and how the paranormal events started. Katie and Kristi live with their mother Julie and her boyfriend Dennis, who is a wedding filmographer. Note, I love the way they work in excuses as to why cameras are around the house in each of the films. So, weird things start happening *shock* and it all seems to stem back to Kristi, who has a new invisible friend named Toby. Things start getting worse, again *shock*. As with above, if I go any further I'll start giving away plot. I give this movie a 7 out of 10. Even better method of building suspense than the first two, but some plot continuity issues have you scratching your head. Definitely has more of a creepiness factor because it has two little girls in it. I swear, when people sit down to write horror movies, they have a list and little girls are at the top of the "successfully creepy" list. Really interesting to watch all three in order of release. But I do plan on rewatching in order of plot to see how much better that is. One thing I can say for the franchise is that they used mostly obscure actors. I only recognized one of them. Use of lesser known actors on top of the film footage typology creates a more believable story.
