I skipped Paranormal Activity 2 because I found the first movie painfully boring. I like a slow-burn horror flick as much, or even more than the next guy (a la House of the Devil) but that first movie was a snooze with a capital zzzzzzzz. Anyway, I was intrigued by this third film for two reasons 1. because I had heard decent things about it and 2. because it was directed by the guys that did Catfish, a film that I did not like, but was nothing if not interesting. So this sequel takes place in the 80's when the chicks from the earlier films are kids and they befriend Toby (Toby Wong?), a spirit who seems to be haunting their house. Nefarious things happen from there and, of course, it is all captured on camera for reasons that become more and more tenuous as the film progresses.

I have to say by the end of this movie I was having some fun and really liking how things were coming together (it even had some effective creepiness) but the first 70% of the film is a pretty terrible, and laughable in parts, slog, and it makes for a pretty painful experience. If the first parts of the film could match the interest, intensity, and even acting of the latter parts, we would be in business, but as it is, it feels kind of bankrupt.