Paranormal Activity 3, the latest entry into the horror series that has garnered both a cult and mass following, is a return to form for the films. Drawing on what made the original so successful and truly freighting, while creating enough new scares and tricks to compensate, Catfish directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost have brought a new touch and vision to the series, making this edition a welcome return to form.

Though a less-than promising premise, Paranormal Activity 3 surprisingly works as a prequel to the prequel to Paranormal Activity, as the series continues to explore the history of the demon’s haunting of this unfortunate family. Beginning with a bit of a recap of entries 1 and 2, the film quickly darts from 2005 and 2006, Los Angeles all the way back to Katie and Kristie Rey’s (the siblings terrorized as adults in the first two films) childhood in 1988, Santa Rosa, CA (I bring this up as a personal anecdote, I live in this town when I’m not in college — how creepy is that?!?!).

Anyway, if you’re thinking — “Oh no, not another stupid origin story.” — think again! With Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristie Rey (played by the delightful Jessica Tyler Brown) young and innocent, the film focuses on their first encounters with the sinister demon, referred in this film as Kristie Rey’s imaginary friend, Toby. Despite a few weird happenings, this so-called “friendship” is brushed off by their mother, Julie (Lauren Bittner) and her boyfriend Dennis (Chris Smith) as normal childhood imagination. But when Julie and Dennis’s first attempt at a sex tape is interrupted by an earthquake, the camera captures the outline of a figure in their bedroom. Dennis, a videocamera enthusiast, begins to suspect something more sinister is at work and sets up cameras all over the house. Premise established, let the scares begin!

The film doesn’t follow the first two installments with an almost over-the-top slow build, where no real scares (or much of anything for that matter) happen for the first third of the film – instead it incorporates what I’ll call “faux-scares,” as well as a surprising amount of uneasy humor before things get down-right terrifyingly creepy. Schulman and Joost have brought a certain amount of ingenuity to the film, refusing to rely on past gimmicks, but rather hint at them to remind us of the effectiveness of some of them. What’s at its center is a new kind of terror, creepiness and utilization of the children’s innocence, particularly with young Kristie’s relationship with her friend Toby.

As far as the acting goes it’s hard to peg how the actors benefit the film, as they’re essentially playing a more terrified, unhinged version of themselves. The adult leads in Dennis and Julie serve their role just fine, with a bit of comic-relief given from Dennis’ friend, Randy (played by Dustin Ingram). Randy is your quintessential goofball, but the few encounters he has with the demon are priceless in his reactions to the events, which bring simultaneous laughter and shrieks of terror from the audience. One plus when it comes to the adults here is that, unlike the past films, it’s not the “nervous, delicate woman” stereotype put against the “doubtful, judgmental husband.” Instead, we see the roles reversed between Dennis and Julie, which I have to say is extremely refreshing.

In an effort not to ruin any of the scares from the film, I’ll resort to commenting on how expertly handled the marketing for these films have been. Particularly with this film, the effort to keep intact all surprises from the film is a pleasant surprise for me. Not only has Paramount Pictures optioned not to include their logo or credits before the film, its trailers and promos for have largely included scenes and moments not featured prominently in the film, and in many cases omitted from it altogether.

Paranormal Activity 3 is a pleasantly surprising 90 minutes of fun and uneasiness. Complete with shivers, laughter, and general terror. This is a movie meant to be seen at a sold-out midnight screening! While more ambitious and arguably scarier than the original, because of this the film does have its flaws in plot and execution at times. But success of the film far outweighs its flaws, as the atmosphere builds up to a truly terrifying final act.

Grade: B