Paranormal Activity Series

The Paranormal Activity films are much disputed in the horror community, it seems you either love them or hate them.  I myself have to go with the ones who love them.  I was very cautious when the first one came out, the commercials on television claiming it to be the scariest movie of all time really made me doubt it, I did hear good things from my friends, and I eventually rented it, and rather liked it.  My problem with these movies, as well as most critics of the film is the "jump scare."  The jump scare in my opinion is killing the horror genre, having someone focus on a screen then having a loud noise and a sudden movement is cheap, it is easy it is a simple thrill that leaves nothing else to be disired.  The movies I love and that stick with me and genuinly scare or creep me out are ones with actual suspense, terror, or a sense of dread.

On the surface Paranormal Activity 3 should be a movie I hate, it is a found footage film that relies on the cheap jump scare to make massive amounts of money because of the low budget.  People go see this series because they know what they are getting cheap thrills, and cheap horror.  I keep watching these movies because, well, the story is actually kind of awesome.  Where Saw failed the PA series are doing quite well.  The Saw series and PA series actually have a lot in common.  Saw is generally considered the father of the splatter film sub genre that launched hundreds of gory rip offs, while Paranormal Activity launched the blossoming found footage, that hasn't been done well since The Blair Witch Project.  Every year around Halloween one of these movies comes out, for 7 years Saw sequels came out, and now for the past 3 years we have gotten a Paranormal Activity film.  The thing that PA3 does well is keeps a cohesive story line, there may be a plot hole here or there, but it has been fascinating that over three films we still have an original story.  PA1 focused on Katie and Micah, PA2 on Katie's sister Kristi, and now we get a prequel set in 1988 with both Katie and Kristi and their demon friend Toby.  Paranormal Activity 4 has been announced, and I for one am excited about where this one will take us this fall.