I know that there are some people out there that are probably wondering “who the hell puts Paranormal Activity 3 on a list and ignores Paranormal Activity?” Still, others out there are probably saying to themselves, “why the hell is any film from the Paranormal Activity franchise on a list like this at all.” But I think it would be remiss to create a list of the best in modern horror films and completely exclude one of the most successful and influential horror franchises of the last twenty years- especially knowing that I, personally, believe Paranormal Activity 3 is a fantastic film.

This is not to say that the original Paranormal Activity is not a pretty good movie. For those who saw it in theaters in 2007, Paranormal Activity holds a special place of nostalgia similar to the way The Blair Witch Project does for people who saw it in 1999. At the time, both films took audiences by surprise. But, sadly, if you are someone, like me, who watched Paranormal Activity for the first time more then a decade after its release, your likely to find long wait for a genuine scare tedious and Micah’s naïve curiosity to be borderline abusive.  (Like damn Katie, just leave him. It might not solve your demon problem, but it will solve your shitty boyfriend problem.) Put simply, it is starting to show its age, which is not a good thing for a film that is really not all that old.

So, you may ask “what makes Paranormal Activity 3 any better?” My honest answer: pretty much everything.

As many filmmakers know, found footage cinematography is innately terrifying. The style has both a realism and an anything-can-jump-out-at-anytime feel that can put audiences in a state of extended unease. Unfortunately, making found footage films is also inexpensive, so the genre is often employed on low budget productions that can not afford to deliver on potential scares. Sadly, no matter how well a found footage filmmaker crafts eerie situations, if scenarios repeatedly end in empty payoffs then the technique quickly becomes ineffective at building tension. For the found footage initiated, scares must be delivered throughout the entirety of the film or else the unease will quickly diminish. One problem with the original Paranormal Activity is that it is pretty obvious after the first twenty minutes that nothing particularly scary is going to happen until the climax. The film’s low budget shows. Which is also why it is rather inexcusable that Paranormal Activity 2, which sported a much higher budget, would infuriate viewers by repeating the same problem. (Yet, they are hardly the only found footage offenders out there.) On the other hand, Paranormal Activity 3, which brought in duel directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulum, seems ready to scare from the onset. Throughout this wicked treat, we witness children get attacked by invisible visitors, Bloody Mary games gone bad and kitchen utensils freak-out. And since Paranormal Activity 3 is not as sparing with its jump scares, the film’s quieter creep-outs are much, much more impactful and memorable than the previous installments.

Paranormal Activity 3 also employs the legendary oscillating fan cam, which is by far the franchise’s most innovative idea. Having a camera slowly rotating from living room to kitchen and back again at a methodical pace forces viewers to actively pay attention to the details in each room. The result is utterly nerve-wracking. (Cue babysitter.) This is a smart filmmaking technique capable of delivering scares unlike any shown on screen before and it will inevitably be replicated in years to come by the next generation of horror filmmakers.

Paranormal Activity 3’s prequel status also means that it also works as a standalone film, which might had been what Joost and Schulum intended since they seem so willing to throw continuity out the window. In fact, one line of dialogue about false memories intentionally voids all references to the past that we heard in the films before. Sure, the first five minutes of this film may use characters from the previous two installments, but you do not really need to know those films to understand what is happening, nor does this introduction have any real bearing on the events to come. Eventually, later films in the franchise provide something like a fuller explanation for the strange occurrences from this film. But by leaving the mystery mysterious, Paranormal Activity 3, if viewed as a stand alone film, tells a pretty effective tale about a family slowly being devoured by generational secrets and missed opportunities for communication and understanding.

And Paranormal Activity 3 does a credible (enough) job addressing some of the big plot issues that exist in both found footage and haunted house movies. By making Denise, the male lead, a wedding videographer with aspirations to do better, we are provided with a reasonable explanation for why the cameras are on all the time. (Though admittedly, that does not excuse the last five minutes of the movie.) Also, by showing how much footage Denise has to sift through, we can appreciate how he suddenly got days behind knowing what the audience knows, which helps justify why the family continues to stay in the house long after there are signs that scream “go”. We see footage that would send any responsible adult packing, but we also know that Denise isn’t going to see that footage for days. And when the terror becomes too obvious to ignore, this family does something unheard of in this franchise. They actually leave the house!

Which reminds me…watch the trailer before seeing this film. Trust me. That is something I don’t normally endorse, but a lot of the scares in the trailer are not even included in the movie. (I will not say which ones.) But believing that some of those scenes are in the movie actually makes a few parts of the film even scarier. It puts you into a state of anticipation, waiting for a scare that will never happen. I even made a kind of extended cut using two trailers just for that reason. It was actually a brilliant marketing strategy, though it backfired with many fans who wanted to see all those scenes in the final film. But I think the film benefits from the dishonesty of the trailer since its best moments have not been spoiled in advance.

I am not saying that Paranormal Activity 3 is a perfect film. Certainly, it is one of the least intellectually demanding on The Midnight Selection. I’ve also never understood why what essentially is a haunted house franchise felt it needed so much complicated, convoluted lore when ghosts are scary enough on their own. Nevertheless, this is a fun found footage film that makes full use of its budget to provide some truly inspired scares. Later, Joost and Schulum would be asked to direct the lackluster, critically panned, X-Box promoting Paranormal Activity 4 before the franchise felt the need to make a sharp pivot in another direction. But many, like myself, still acknowledge and celebrate Paranormal Activity 3 for being a successful franchise’s best offering and a special piece of horror cinema in its own right.