Paranormal Activity 3

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Paranormal Activity 3

R

Released Oct 21, 2011

1h 21m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

67%

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125 Reviews

51%

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50,000+ Ratings

A videographer becomes obsessed with finding the source of disturbing late-night noises in his home and discovers its terrifying origin.

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Critics Consensus

While the jolts and thrills are undeniably subject to the diminishing returns that plague most horror sequels, Paranormal Activity 3 is a surprisingly spine-tingling treat.

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Dylan Scott

Vox

Fresh feeling and a gloriously gonzo finale.

Oct 19, 2018

Full Review

Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

It's another low-budget, high-concept excursions into shock horror filmmaking that once again uses the audience's imagination against them to produce a wild flurry of shrieks and scares.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jan 27, 2012

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Jim Schembri

The Age (Australia)

PA3 not only delivers quality jolts in spades, it turns out to be much scarier than The Blair Witch Project.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 24, 2011

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David Day

Horror Movie Talk

Producers, take note. For the low cost of some fishing line, you can scare me way more than if you pay a huge crew of computer animators to design a monster that runs around and skins people.

Rated: 10/10

Sep 23, 2025

Full Review

Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

A step down from the original but a step up from its predecessor, this is less of a success due to era-appropriate gags and more the ambitious reveals in the final act.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 9, 2025

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Iván Kazi

EscribiendoCine

Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's new collaboration doesn't irritate but doesn't excite either. The film tries to scare us but instead delivers insignificant bursts of repeated jolts. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/10

Sep 20, 2023

Full Review

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stefan C

This was freaking scary top 5 scariest movies ever!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/06/25

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Affleberry F

One of the better installments, I'd still put the original & part 2 ahead of it, but still a very good horror flick, if you like found footage of course.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/12/25

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Tommy D

The best prequel and great film. 8/10

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/13/25

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Jude H.

This is a perfect prequel. This is by far the scariest entry of the series. Katie and Chrissy are young girls and this is where it all begins, this entry adds more lore to the series and it actually is interesting. It’s a hard thing to do with horror movies series that go on for more than two movies. The ending is spooky and theres a lot of good jumpscares in the second half

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/11/25

Full Review

James B

While I did find it more interesting than the first paranormal activity 3 suffers from being a bit boring but makes up for it's scares and suspense.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/13/25

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Oriana H

Hey sparkles, I was pretty scared by this film but not as much as id like to be. I took away a star because of that creepy ghost toley who kept creeping on those girls i really liked the the fact that they added the house from the marked ones in there and i was so shocked when that creepy man at the end was perving on the girls. The plot twist was crazy and i was very shook as i cant believe a grandmother could do that to her daughter son in law and grand children. Although the youngest girl was very creepy anf got on my nerves alot. Thanks for listening my little sparkles.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/18/25

Full Review

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Henry Joost

Director

Ariel Schulman

Director

Katie Featherston

Katie

Sprague Grayden

Kristi Rey

Lauren Bittner

Julie

Christopher Nicholas Smith

Dennis

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Mara

28%

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Box Office Guru Wrapup: Paranormal Activity 3 Scares Up A Huge Opening

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Movieclips: Paranormal Activity - Try Not to Get SCARED!

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Synopsis

A videographer becomes obsessed with finding the source of disturbing late-night noises in his home and discovers its terrifying origin.

Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Producer: Jason Blum, Oren Peli
Screenwriter: Christopher Landon
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Blumhouse, Room 101 Inc., Solana Films
Rating: R (Drug Use|Brief Sexuality|Language|Some Violence)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $104.0M
Runtime: 1h 21m

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