Paranormal Activity 3: The Unanswered Questions
Here’s the entire Paranormal Activity movie trilogy summarized in chronological order, with the connections between the films pointed out. It should go without saying that THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS IN THROUGHOUT THIS ARTICLE.
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How does Paranormal Activity 3 tie into the other films?
Paranormal Activity 3 is set in 1988 when sisters Kristi and Katie are young (5 and 9, respectively). It is meant to chronicle the events that the girls cannot fully remember in the first two films – namely the demonic entity first coming to haunt them. The girls’ mom has a boyfriend, Dennis, who begins to film the phenomenon happening in their home. The mom, Julie, has decided not to have any more kids – much to the chagrin of her mother (the girls’ grandmother), Lois. A mysterious symbol drawn on a crawl space ceiling in the girls’ room leads Dennis to a book about a coven of witches in the 1930s who served demons by brain-washing girls of child-bearing age into having sons for the demon to collect, before wiping away the child-bearer’s memory of the event. Dennis tries to show this explanation to Julie, but she will not buy it.
The demon makes a bond with Kristi, in particular (which she refers to as her friend “Toby”). After repeated attacks, Kristi eventually promises to do the demon’s bidding in order to save her sister from harm. Kristi begs her mom to take them from the house to grandma’s house (apparently, the demon’s request), but Julie, still in denial, refuses. For “motivation,” the demon then tears apart the kitchen in front of Julie, which sends her running off to grandma’s house with the kids. Thinking they are finally safe, Julie awakens in the night to the sound of cars pulling up to Lois’ home. It is then revealed that Lois is part of the coven of witches from the ’30s that Dennis saw in the book, and that she serves the demon terrorizing them (she had the same symbol hidden on her wall that the demon drew on the crawl space ceiling). Gathered with the rest of her coven, Lois watches as the demon kills Julie and Dennis. She then leads her granddaughters up the stairs to an unknown fate, with the demon in tow.
Paranormal Activity 1 & 2
Jump to 2005, when an adult Katie delivers stuff from Lois’ old house (Lois has seemingly died) to a pregnant Kristi and her husband Dan. This includes a necklace and a box of old video tapes (Dennis’s 1988 tapes AND a set of tapes labeled “1992″). A year later, after Kristi has given birth to her son, Hunter, a “burglary” occurs at her home. Every room is completely trashed except for Hunter’s bedroom, but the only things stolen are the necklace and the video tapes. Soon after, strange paranormal events begin to occur in Kristi and Dan’s home. Their housekeeper Martine claims it is an evil spirit, tries to protect the family via prayer and incense – and gets fired for her trouble by Dan, who will not even begin to entertain thoughts of the supernatural being real in any form. Upon visiting, Katie and Kristi reminisce about that mysterious period from their childhood (which they cannot recall) that led to their family being broken, and their childhood home burning down. The events happening in Kristi’s home seem vaguely similar to deep-seated feelings the girls have of that childhood trauma; Katie is worried Kristi will ‘end up like their mother.’
Kristi’s step-daughter Ali begins to research demonic mythology, and discovers that humans could make deals with demons for wealth and power, in exchange for the soul of their first-born sons (a deal seemingly made by Lois and her coven, or Lois’ mother – possibly the founder of the coven). If the deal maker didn’t have a son, the demon would haunt the deal maker’s family until a male heir could be collected. Kristi’s infant son Hunter is revealed as the first male heir to be born into their family since the 1930s (Lois had hoped Julie would break that cycle, and encouraged her to have more children – but no such luck).
The paranormal activity in Kristi’s home begins to escalate; at one point, Kristi herself is dragged down into the basement by the demon and is kept there for hours. When Kristi is released, her family finds the basement door covered in scratches, with the word “Meus” (Latin for “Mine”) scratched in the door (either meaning Kristi or Hunter or both belong to the demon). Ali becomes convinced that Kristi has been corrupted by the demon and convinces her father of this by showing him footage of Kristi being dragged into the basement by some invisible force. Dan calls in Martine (the nanny he previously fired), who informs him that he cannot exorcise the demon completely – but he can pass the demon off to another family member. To protect his own family he decides to sacrifice Kristi’s sister, Katie. After a frightful confrontation with a possessed Kristi, Dan, Ali and Martine succeed in their plan and free her from the demon using a cross. Dan burns a photo of a young Katie (that Julie took on the girls’ first day of school) to complete the ritual (this seems to be the same photo that a few weeks later shows up in the attic of Katie and Micah’s home). Afterwards, Kristi has no memory of being possessed.
Katie, meanwhile, has just moved into a new home with her boyfriend Micah. When strange paranormal activity begins to occur in their home, Katie confesses to Micah about the strange events from her and Kristi’s childhood - events which repeated when Katie was a teenager (age 13) and now and again throughout her adult life (a time we still haven’t seen in the films). She says that it’s felt like she’s always been haunted by something, though Micah is skeptical. Nevertheless, Micah begins to record the happenings and Katie eventually hires a psychic to assess the situation. The psychic (who states his expertise is not in demons, but in ghosts) reveals that the demon feeds off of negative energy; emotional friction between Katie and Micah is only strengthening it. Events escalate as Katie finds the photo of herself that Dan burned (she thought it lost in the house fire from her childhood) and starts to show signs of being possessed by the entity. Katie visits Kristi (3 weeks after Dan sent the demon her way) and explains the strange events occurring in her home. Dan reveals nothing about what happened to Kristi.
As more and more havoc is wrought, Katie and Micah try to reach out to a demonologist – but he is out of town. Frightened, they meet again with the psychic, who is instantly panicked by the malevolent presence in the house and flees the scene. When Katie is eventually physically assaulted by the demon, she and Micah decide they will flee to a hotel. Before they can leave, however, Micah discovers Katie gripping a cross (the one used to free Kristi) so tightly that her hand is bleeding. He burns the cross and the photo of Katie in anger, and an eerily tranquil Katie then informs him that all is well. Micah believes her, reluctantly.
The next night, Katie awakens in bed and watches over Micah sleeping before disappearing downstairs. Micah awakens to the sounds of Katie screaming as if being murdered/attacked and runs downstairs to aid her. Heavy footsteps are heard on the stairs, and then Micah’s corpse is flung at the camera, revealing a fully-demonic Katie as his murderer. The next night, demon-Katie appears at Kristi’s house and murders Dan and Kristi, before taking young Hunter into her arms and disappearing (Ali was not home at the time), with her whereabouts still unknown after three films.
And now, on to the unanswered questions of Paranormal Activity 3…
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About the house burning, it happen when katie is 14. That means it is in the future (watch the first movie).
About the trailers. That was false adversiting. Fake scenes that depicted a entire different movie with all another plot. That is a fraud, a swindle. The people behind the ads are charlatans. Sorry to frank about it but the unethical behaviour of the responsable are IMPOSSIBLE to be justifyed. I think somebody has to make some drastic action, forcing the companyes to never ever again cheat the pubblick with false ads.
About the movie. Bah it wasnt scary at all, it was repetitive and for the most part boring and predictable. About the ending I had the impression they rushed to it. Simply poorely made. And if you saw the PA2 hardly it would have been a surprise for you that the granma was involved.
Basically I feel I wasted time and money. I wasted money because I didnt get what i paied for (false ads) and i wasted time because I didnt get anything usefull out of the movie.
The good part, they managed to keep the atmosphere inline with the previous movies, but they failed with the scare. The movie overall is quite banal and this make it to a mediocre motion picture. Sadly!
giorgio…if you are going to be criticizing movies then at least learn how to spell…it makes you look really dumb and stupid if you are going to sit here and give an opinion…then spell things the correct way. It makes you look very un-intelligent..I suggest you invest in spell check
‘Loves Pa.’…. If you are going to be critical about other people’s spelling as you have, then perhaps YOU should learn how to spell, use correct grammar, and make sure that whatever you are saying is correctly and accurately conveyed before doing so.
In order that you can engage in some positive self improvement with regards to these aspects, I have noted the errors you have made in your post for your information. As a small disclosure at this juncture, I am not perfect at spelling – a mere observer.
1 – giorgio, as you noted should, as a noun have a capital G at the start – so Giorgio.
2 – Why all the random … when a simple full stop or another method of punctuation would have sufficed?
3 – You have intimated that Giorgio looks dumb and stupid if (and I’m paraphrasing here) he’s going to ‘sit here and give an opinion and spell things the correct way.’ – Surely he wouldn’t look stupid if he spells things correctly? – Perhaps you meant incorrectly in this instance?
4 – With regards to the above statement – dumb and stupid mean the same thing – why use synonyms when they do not add anything to the conveyance of your statement?
5 – Unintelligent does NOT require a – in between the ‘un’ and the ‘intelligent’ – I would suggest that in this instance, it is YOU who should invest in a spell check. (Incidentally, spell check comes as standard in most MS word packages)
Normally wouldn’t do this but sort of gets my back up when people post on these forums merely to smugly put what someone else said down, and then have the cheek to do it badly HAHA. It’s a forum – all opinions, and all spellings accepted, and People in glass houses should not throw stones.
Laura… Although I enjoyed reading your primary school lesson given to Giorgio, I feel compelled to point out the quite obvious mistake you made in actually reading his comment. Your point in number 3 is wrong, Giorgio says ‘then spell things correctly’ not ‘and spell things correctly’. A small error you might think, but one that makes your statement completely untrue.
Now normally I wouldn’t do this either, but if your going to tell somebody off for bad grammar and punctuation then the least you could do is read their comments properly beforehand. And if indeed you believe that all opinions and spellings are accepted, why even make your comments at all. It seams that Giorgio is not the only person who puts somebody down and has the cheek to do it badly. Funny old world isn’t it. ;o)
I want to play this game, too! Scott, “…if your going to tell somebody…” is, sadly, incorrect. Dear boy, that “your” is a possessive, rather than the contracted “you’re” it should be. As for the “somebody” paired with “their” in your second paragraph, well, my goodness [elegant Victorian lady faints dead away].
Seriously, though, Giorgio may not be a native English speaker and may be unaware of the percumbent rules of grammar and syntax. We all get our meanings across; unless someone uses cuneiform, ’cause that would be freaky.
Well said Christine, I agree with you all the way!!!
Hello Scott and Thank you for your insightful comments in connection with my previous post (in respect the 3rd point I made.)
I read your comments with great interest, and yes – I agree that my lack of reading of the comment I was referring to (made by ‘Loves Pa’) which formed the basis of my 3rd point has altered the meaning of this particular statement. I will try hard not to lose too much sleep over this though.
However, for clarity, and completeness, I would like to point out a couple of ‘quite obvious mistakes’ you made in your comment.
You noted the following valid point:
“…but if YOUR going to tell somebody off for bad grammar and punctuation then the least you could do is read their comments properly beforehand”
I would note that your use of the word ‘YOUR’ was not correct here. In this instance, you needed to say YOU ARE, or YOU’RE…your choice.
I would simply echo the post by Christine. The YOUR you have used here is possessive, and inappropriate in this instance.
Secondly, the points I raised were in connection with comments made by an author by the name of ‘Loves Pa,’ who had made comments about ‘Giorgio.’ You however, have noted that my ‘primary school lesson’ was given to ‘Giorgio’ – This was not the case. My comments were made to ‘Loves Pa’ – NOT Giorgio.
Finally, you have noted:
“It SEAMS that Giorgio is not the only person who puts somebody down and has the cheek to do it badly. Funny old world isn’t it. ;o)”
SEAMS are on trousers, skirts, and various other items of clothing. SEEMS should have been used in this instance. – SEEMS it’s not only me that puts people down and has the cheek to do it badly! Indeed, it would appear that neither ‘Giorgio,’ ‘Loves Pa,’ myself nor indeed yourself for that matter have displayed impeccable spelling. Funny old world indeed, and once again, we’re back to the ‘people in glass houses’ analogy.
Might I point out at this stage that my intention was no to put anybody down by my initial post. This is a blog about a film, and as I’m sure you can appreciate, the fact that ‘loves Pa’ felt compelled to make unkind statements to a fellow film fan specifically regarding spelling, giving him a ‘primary school lesson’ opened him/her up to criticism about his/her own poor punctuation in his/her own post – issues of which were plentiful!
If I put someone down for putting someone else down then I make no apologies for this.
I really have no critizism here, I just think it’s hilarious that you all are taking the time to go through each other’s FULL comments and pick out the teeny little mistakes as if they were HUGE ones, and then (I’m guessing here) probably very closely reading through your own comments to make sure there were no mistakes for the OTHER one to pick out. XD I hadn’t realize that we live in a perfect world where NO ONE does ANYTHING wrong. LOL! ;P
Dear Giorgio, loves pa, Laura, Scott, Christine, and Ashley,
My ability to aggrandize my importance through ostentatiously pretentious vocabulary while conveying vacuous ideas can be surmised from this self-referencing, self-fulfilling sentence which utilizes words like ‘utilizes’ and ‘behoove’ to behoove my demonstration of my ability to convey vacuous ideas with ostentatiously pretentious vocabulary. Having said that, Paranormal Activity 3 wasn’t all that bad.
All of you people should get lives….. you all sound like you’ve been watching too much Dawson’s Creek……
All I wanted were the answers to the confusing ending of PA3 because it left me with brain pain…. but reading your sad stabs at one another’s grammar has truly given me a headache… I no longer yearn for the answers to PA3, I require only advil….. for the sake of future readers please move on to the topic at hand….PA1,2,3 k Thanks
well after reading the storys leading up to PA3. The fourth
is gonna be about the girls in teenage years. And whoever the caretaker is in place of their mom. Who died in PA3.
God, you’re so petty. So what if somebody can’t spell? It doesn’t make you look any cleverer than them because you can spell. Jesus, talk about the movie and not how super mega intelligent you are.
WOW!!!!
is funny how ppl are thing they r better than others at spellin…. FCKN Funny ja
People don’t “thing” they “spellin” better than you, they “no”… Ja Vicky!
I thought that back and forth spell checking comment thread was the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages, I Rofled at everyone correcting the person correcting them. Classic!
Ps. Awesome movie, weird ending but makes sense after reading this plot breakdown, thanks!
People don’t thing they spellin better than you, they no… Ja Vicky!
I thought that back and forth spell checking comment thread was the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages, I Rofled at everyone correcting the person correcting them. Classic!
Ps. Awesome movie, weird ending but makes sense after reading this plot breakdown, thanks!
I thought this was a blog about the movie? Seems to be a grammar lesson instead.
whatever i thought we was suppose to comment bout the movies so correct me cause i no i aint spell things right n dont care like all three movies n hope there is another one to finish it off
wow..
What is this? A competition as to how well we all type/write, etc?
What a joke. Nothing more than individuals “self-patting” themselves on the back.
Georgio – I thought Paranormal Activity 3 was great..maybe even the best of the 3. As always, different people with different minds….it’s truly no wonder I stay to myself in life. I have no interest in mingling with others who think differently than i do.
While I, too, become more and more erudite in the written word every time I notice grammatical … Dear Gods, really? Do you update your Facebook status with those fingers? I hope to Gods you lot don’t talk like that too…
Simply put, get off your high-horses and realise that people make mistakes; even you ‘Grammar Nazi’ lot – more-so when trying so hard to look perfect in your replies and missing your own errors.
People who so blatantly point out another person’s mistakes directly are on par with lawyers and people who talk in cinemas. Do grow up.
Thank you!!!! Lol
I actually prefer the way they do trailers. For example, most movie trailers usually show one of the last couple scenes of a movie. So when you see a movie, and half-way through you see a character in a life-or-death situation, you already know he lives because the trailer scene did not yet happen. And for movies of the horror genre, if you see all the “scary” scenes in the trailer, that leaves you with no shock moments in the actual movie. You expect to see what you already saw, making the movie pointless. Now, when you go into the movie (such as the Bloody Mary scene), you already think you know what is going to happen, so there is no suspense for you. But when the movie doesn’t show that scene, now you have no idea what to expect, so what does come catches you off guard. It is an amazingly effective gimmick.
Also, you are way exaggerating with your entire post. The trailer is not a finished movie product, so everything you see you should take with a grain of salt. Secondly, you can’t deduce the entire plot from a 2-minute trailer, so let’s not say it is a different movie. Third, if they include those scenes as extras in the DVD, which they always do, then it is not false advertising. You should also have already been familiar with the movie series, as you have seen 1 and 2. This was no different. If you went in expecting something totally different, that is your own fault.
If I could vote you up in some way, I’d do it in a heartbeat. This is exactly what I was thinking.
Although…I wish I got to see Kristi splash water on “Toby” and/or her jumping off the ledge in the movie. They just seem positively awesome, but then again, I like being surprised (maybe that will be the death of me, lol).
Dude, learn to spell donkey. I think it was and great movie for a part 3 sequel! Looking forward to PA4
I have a question about the alternate ending of P.A.1
if you have seen the alternate ending, it shows Katie after she has killed Micah upstairs. Katie is holding a knife and she slowly walks up to the camera and slices her throat. This ending doesn’t make sense if Katie is still alive for the end of the 2nd film. Please get back to me asap! Thanks!
it was an alternatie ending, so I guess it doesn’t have to make any sense,because it’s not the ‘official’ ending.
okay. What happened to the girls’ biological father? Why wasn’t he there to raise the girls after Julie and Dennis were killed?
Was Toby a pervert? Is that why he lifted the blanket and preyed on the little girls?
No offense to anyone im just giving critisism to be handled construstively.
How did they cover up the deaths? Did the coven cover their rears and remove them and their memories from the face of the earth?
To do that would seem like a big task to handle.
What happened to the babysetters in PA3? Did they get psychiatric help?
Really really great write-up. Just about answered all the questions I had very succinctly. Kudos.
They put the fake scenes in the trailer so the viewers would be surprised once they actually saw the movie.
I have to admit that I was upset, at first, by not seeing most of the scenes from the trailer in the movie. I was hoping to see the “Bloody Mary” sequence and others and was a little disappointed after not seeing it. But, after thinking about it, I realized that if those scenes were in the movie, all of the scare moments would have already been exposed and the thrill of seeing these movies would have been wasted. You could watch the trailer and know what scary moments were coming. So I am happy they kept them on the cutting floor. The movie was awesome when seen with a big group of people. And isn’t that the point of seeing “scary” movies? To be scared … to get the adrenaline flowing … to be entertained? This movie did that and I look forward to the next one. Are they the best movies ever? No, not even close. But, for what they are, they are effective and definitely not a waste of money or time.
actually i think that fake trailers for PA 3 was prefect
i hate tralers that spoil all the movie …
For those who think the mum is dead, read this quote:-
“”Wanna know what I remember? I remember you crying… all the time. I remember you couldn’t sleep and had anxiety attacks. I remember you stopped talking for months. I remember weird people coming to our house and our mom was upset all the time. That’s what I remember. Whatever it was, it thrived on fear. The more we paid attention to it the worse it got. You need to leave this alone. You need to ignore it or you’re going to end up just like mom. Do you understand me?”
That was from PA2.
She was likely just knocked out, and seeing as in the original coven it was Known that people could be made to forget, then it’s likely the sisters have been made to forget the ordeal and Dennis.
If they remember Julie crying, it’s likely because she’s mourning Dennis.
The people that she mentions, I think are the coven.
All things that could be sewn up in PA4.
Adam, I think you’re right. The mom lived, and was probably mental after the ordeal in which Dennis was killed and her youngest daughter was betrothed to a demon by the grandmother.
For those who think the mum is dead, read this quote:-
“”Wanna know what I remember? I remember you crying… all the time. I remember you couldn’t sleep and had anxiety attacks. I remember you stopped talking for months. I remember weird people coming to our house and our mom was upset all the time. That’s what I remember. Whatever it was, it thrived on fear. The more we paid attention to it the worse it got. You need to leave this alone. You need to ignore it or you’re going to end up just like mom. Do you understand me?”
That was from PA2.
She was likely just knocked out, and seeing as in the original coven it was Known that people could be made to forget, then it’s likely the sisters have been made to forget the ordeal and Dennis.
If they remember Julie crying, it’s likely because she’s mourning Dennis.
The people that she mentions, I think are the witches.
exactly what I thought
I wanna see the cops getting involved and wondering what happen to kristi and julie and there husbands in PA1 and 2 and all.. Because its suppose to be “found footage” who is watching it? Will they ever make it like a real movie where somebody is actually sitting there an watching that stuff goin down ?
We’re the ones watching it, they’re trying to make it as real as possible and making it seem like they found it, an showing us the footage.
They kind of already ruined that, don’t you think? After three entire movies, the realistic feature is gone. Especially in the third one, the suddelty is completely gone, he catches way too much on film to be realistic, that is why the first one was so good. You thought you were safe and BAM!! Ghostly activity, that is why I like how they had the boring moments in the first one, it made you not expect the scary moments when they happened. Oh and he had a really good HQ camera for the 80s huh? lol
Ok can anyone help me out with this and explain to me these things,
Ok so didn’t they mention in the second movie about the whole family gets out fine? and there is a house fire? and they said in their childhood, not teens right? Well doesn’t that mean the ending of 3 doesn’t make any sense with the rest of the story? I guess they could say the mom didn’t die but the way the body was contorted when it was floating and on the ground leads you to believe she’s dead, and the bf was like stay away from it, so he knew she was dead.
Lol. I too am puzzled abt the ending,and was kinda smh wondering “Ok, what did i miss here?” I’m wondering is this ending an opening for a pa4? Does anyone know?
maybe those scenes from the trailer were missing in purpose? some just make no sense and are like an alternate version when compared to the actual movie, but it could be possible that what we saw as Paranormal Activity 3 was the tapes after some scenes were deleted or removed by somebody, or something (as in a character from the movies). thats just my idea, if it really is that those scenes were added because of marketing, then that really sucks.
There marketed it differently so we would expect something to happen then it wouldent. I mean i was glad they done this, who wants to know when there gonna get a fright. And lets be honest people wouldnt of gone to see it if the trailer was floating blanket here, covers being rustled there. bumps and bangs everywhere
Great description but what I found troubling
was that in PA 3 the movie didn’t even show half of the events that were shown in the trailer, like little kristi jumping down and running back up , the knocking on the closet glass, kristi throwing the water in the demon in front of the mother, the demonogolist at the table being thrown away, all in the trailer but not in the movie, kind of disappointed
I got to say that I was pretty upset with the movie as well. The movie trailer showed me what I wanted to see, but failed to deliver in the movie. PA3 was pretty short and it seemed rushed, I was expecting alot more. PA1 and PA2 were great, my heart was racing through out both movies. They were pretty scary, enough to make me nervous around my own house. When it came time for PA3, I was worked up before the movie started, mainly because of what PA1 and PA2 did to me. Half way through my heart was racing and I starting to freak out a little bit, but suddenly they were going to Grandma’s. The rest of the movie was just… a bust. The whole scariness was replaced, with me trying to figure out what the hell was going on with Grandma and her freaking house. The scary parts that took place (at Grandma’s house) weren’t scary. I was really let down with the ending. They should have kept the part with the kids jumping off the rail from upstair, seems like that would played on the fears of parents. They should have kept the part of the house burning down, it would have answered the questions I had about the burned picture in PA1. The part were Julie gets thrown around…. is just scary. Why not keep it? It’s been happening to all the women through out the movies. It make the demon have a reason for haunting. It’s what the viewers are waiting for. If there is going to be a PA4, I hope they make up for PA3.
i am so confused !!!!!!!!! UGH!!! but i have watched PA3 4 times ! and i still don’t understand!! UGH!! some one explain what is up with the coven. i mean i don not understand that part !
What’s not to understand . The Grandma is part of a coven of witches that has been explained in the last two films. She has sold the sole for the first born male to the demon for power and possibly wealth. All this had been explained in the movies.
I think that the movie was ok but it looked more scary and interesting with the parts that were cut.So misleading,it seems like they make the trailer a different way just to get more viewers!
I think that the movie was ok but it looked more scary and interesting with the parts that were cut.It seems like they make the trailer a different way just to get more viewers!
God, I’m still having nightmares after a marathon of this movie series.
Among the three, PA1 is still my favorite.
While I would kind of like to see some of the plot holes (or ambiguous plot points, whichever you like to call them) filled in, I would much prefer to move on with the primary thread of the story. It’s neat to find out why Katie and Kristi are so traumatized by “Toby”, but it doesn’t really further finding out what happened to any of the surviving characters in the modern era.
I liked this movie, but…it just didn’t feel necessary. It seems like this, and perhaps some of the girls’ teenage years, could have been folded into a sequel, perhaps involving the surviving peripheral characters. In fact, dwelling on it, that’s actually a rather interesting way to think of the “found footage” tack of the films.
Minor survivors, like, say Ali, Randy, or Katie’s friend Amber, recovering this evidence to try to piece together what has happened, why, and where Katie has taken Hunter. Ali in particular, I think, would have a strong motivation for tracking down her baby brother, and we have to remember Chekhov’s Gun: “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.”
There was no reason to specify that Ali wasn’t home during the murders, and indeed returned to discover them, if it’s not pertinent to the plot somehow that we know she’s alive, with a triple motive to track down the demon–the murder of her stepmother, the murder of her father, and the kidnapping of her half-brother.
Just speculation, but that is something I’d like to see, and something that would explain who is finding the “found footage”, and why they are editing it all together in sequence. At least, I think it would be better than dwelling further on minutiae that is mostly irrelevant to a satisfying end to a series that is starting to suffer diminishing returns.
The first six posts in this thread are HILARIOUS!!! Funniest thing I’ve seen in a coomments section in a long time. SOOO much time picking each other apart! Such a zeigeist of the times. The last one had a “no” when they meant “not” but no one picked it up. Too bad….
I have to admit that the stuff in the trailer was really scary, but not having it in the movie didn’t bother me that much. I feel like most of what was in there was all the creepier because it went unnoticed or was subdued. The ending left me with a lot of questions…which is what the director was going for I’m sure. I did think Dennis’s wandering around grandma’s house was a tad too drawn out but other than that I don’t really have an complaints. The one thing that had me confused at the ending…was the totally subdued reactions of Katie and Kristie to Dennis being so violently killed. I was kind of suspicious when Dennis woke up and everyone was gone. Part of me immediately thought the whole family was gonna be in on some sort of dark creepy vodoo. But then Dennis found Kristi and she seemed so genuinely frightened…but I kept going “Where’s Katie?” The way he finally found her…by the stairs and her creepy face threw me off…because Kristi had seemed to be the one most possessed. But then Dennis gets killed…and I’m not sure if I heard this right, but it sounded to me like both the girls were giggling…which isn’t the reaction I expected. And the way Kristi just trotted up to lois and then beckoned Toby…it makes me wonder if the girls were already influenced or being controlled before they even walked up the steps. Their sudden calmness just struck me as very odd.
A few things:
I suspect a good deal of the inconsistencies stemming from PA1 could be explained by the fact that when it was made, the makers did not predict what a huge success it was going to be, and had to do some back-paddling when it was picked up for sequals.
Whether or not a movie is worth the suspension of disbelief is subjective. In this case, some is going to be necessary for the above reason, and because the plot development device, ie., the use of found footage, makes it necessary. For example, if the tapes had been burned in the house fire, there would be no PA2 or 3, or, they would have had to have used an entirely different device to continue the story. I prefer found footage to any alternative I have seen in horror films to date. A common alternative is to film a scene I think of as The Big Explanation, which is lazy and frequently artless. The best example of this I can think of off-hand is from Insidious(I can never remember things when I need to! I’m sure I will think of a half dozen better examples later today).
The PA scripts show intelligence and humor, and the dialogue is genuine. The writer/s seem to indicate they have been insulted in the past by lazy plot structure and cheap shock scenes. I have seen many movies that ad-lib to the point where the characters become inarticulate nit-wits who can’t complete a simple sentence. Crimes and Misdemeanors, which remains one of my favorite movies regardless, provides a good example. The dialogue and delivery in PA remain natural without sounding artificially unscripted.
Lastly, and I can’t stress this enough, it is extremely refreshing to watch a movie without an elaborate musical score. If you know what you’re doing, you shouldn’t need music to create a mood. The depictions should speak for themselves. If you want a movie to seem realistic, don’t add stuff that doesn’t happen in real life. Real life is not orchestrated. Pianos do not follow one around.
And so I here I gladly suspend my disbelief. These movies are not perfect. But, do you know what? Big deal. They are damn good.
Lastly, I have a question. If the coven was formed in the thirties, it would have been formed by Lois’s parents’ generation. Correct? I base this on the assumption that if Julie was raising children in the 80′s, Lois would have been raising children in the sixties, and Lois’ parents in the forties. Therefor, why was Lois not disposed of when she failed to produce a boy? Why was Julie not brought up the stairs by Lois’ mother? Or was she? Why was Julie not a participent in the coven? Why did it stop with Lois? Hopefully, this will be addressed. Looking forward to it.
If my daughter woke up in the middle of the night talking to imaginary friends I would have her sleep in my bed. If ghosts are so powerful (and they seem to be very powerful) why don’t they do crazier and more “scary stuff” to larger groups of people? Screw with the masses? I’m just saying….
In PA2, when Micah and Katie are hanging out with the family in Kristi’s pool, the girls admit to doing seances when they were younger.
Also, Kristi says the burglar took the necklace her sister gave her…could it be a necklace like the women wore in the photo Dennis found of the coven (which if you look up the dictionary of the word, is an assembly of 13 witches)?
If you freeze at the right time at the end when the static is rolling thru you can catch a shot of julie and denis’s bed on fire!
You know what was confusing about P3. The little girl referenced TOBY as being really tall, however when you look at Toby playing Ghost with the Babysitter, he’s extremely short. When the older sister ran into Toby, she reacted like she ran into a giant. So is Toby really tall or really short? Im only saying this becuase I was hoping to see the figure of some Giant Demon, due to the little girl describing Toby as very very very tall. Yet every physical refernce to him in the movie, is just as short as the little girl…
Because your supposed think its the little girl under the blanket, besides i feel sorry for him if hes really tall and needs to live in that little cupboard no wonder hes so pissed all the time. hes got major cramp
At the beginning of the movie Kristi is pregnant with a boy. Then the movie goes to oneyer later. What happened to the baby. Nothing was said in the movie.
Kristi gives birth to a baby boy called Hunter, who Katie kidnaps at the end of PA2
What doesnt make sense toe is that in paranormal 1 katie is killed by the police bc she has a weapon in her hand. But shes still alive to kill her sister n her sisters husband in paranormal2 ???? Idk. Its fake!
That was an alternate ending. The wide, theatrical release included an an ending where possessed Katie was very much alive at the end.
What doesnt make sense toe is that in paranormal 1 katie is killed by the police bc she has a weapon in her hand. But shes still alive to kill her sister n her sisters husband in paranormal2 ???? Idk.
@Brenda one of the best parts of the PA films concerns possession. Those creepy ‘too heavy’ footsteps at the end of PA2 when she comes into the room… awesome. So even though she gets killed at the end of PA1, the body could still be in use somehow
But who looks after Hunter and ensures he grows up ok?
hi please could someone tell me if the bits shown in the trailer that are missing from the movie are in the extended version on dvd, thanks xx