In a lot of ways “Paranormal Activity 3” really shouldn’t work. It’s the third in the astonishingly popular series, and it looks to be officially replacing “Saw” as the official franchise in the month of October. The third in a trilogy is also when the series starts running out of creative juices and becomes bound by an increasingly aging formula. Maybe it’s time to move on to the next big thing in horror movies, right?

Not quite. Despite the inescapable feeling of déjà vu, “Paranormal Activity 3” still has the power to scare and unnerve viewers, and I knew exactly what I was doing when I saw it at night. This one comes from the makers of “Catfish,” a documentary I meant to see by now, but anyway. They follow the familiar setup, and it still has a number of jump out of your seat moments that shows that there is life left in this franchise.

Whereas “Paranormal Activity 2” was a prequel and a sequel, this one is a flat out prequel which takes place 18 years before the events of the original. Sisters Katie and Kristi, played by Katie Featherston and Sprague Grayden in the previous films, are seen here as children who live with their mother Julie (Lauren Bittner) and stepdad Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith). Things get weird however when Kristi gets an invisible friend named “Toby,” and strange occurrences develop in their home with increasing volatility.

Since this prequel takes place back in 1988, the filmmakers work with seemingly prehistoric technology such as video cameras and VHS tapes. Part of it serves as a needless reminder of how Betamax got its ass kicked years ago. While the technology is limited compared to what the characters had to use in the future forces everyone here to get creative with what they have.

Once again the man of the house (it’s always the man) sets up a barrage of video cameras in various rooms to figure out what’s going on in order to put an end to it. The only disadvantage is that the VHS tapes only allow for 6 hours of recording at the most. Somehow the spirits do make their appearance before the tape rolls out which you have to say is rather convenient for everyone involved.

The one new thing in “Paranormal Activity 3” is that Dennis comes up with the idea of attaching one video camera to the base of a fan. As the camera veers from side to side, we have another reason to be tense about what we’re watching. Will there be something on the other side that will jump out at us? This quickly becomes a clever device which distinguishes this sequel from the previous ones.

I do have to say though that “Paranormal Activity 3” got off to a shaky start. There were a bunch of cheap scares which (whether they worked or not) had me worrying that this entry would be full of them. While they may have provided the audience with a good jolt, it made me wonder if the series was going to descend into self parody. Once that happens, the series might as well end. Fortunately things straighten out as the happenings inside the house become increasingly unrelenting in their viciousness.

There are many moments that had my hair standing on end; Furniture moving around almost by itself, a character running into something that isn’t visible, and someone’s hair getting grabbed; “Paranormal Activity 3” may seem like business as usual, but this business is still producing terrifying moments just as things start looking old. Like the previous entries, I’m not entirely sure how the filmmakers pulled off certain special effects (the one at the very end is a painful shocker), and I don’t want to know for fear of breaking the illusion.

I recently watched “The Thing” which was a prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 film. It reminded the problem of prequels in general in that you know who is gonna live and die, and the suspense gets diluted as a result. The advantage “Paranormal Activity 3” has is that while we know the little girls will survive to future installments, we aren’t sure of the adults’ fate. Katie and Kristi only reveal so much about what happened to them as children in the second film, so we are left to guess if any adults hanging around these kids will live to see the next day. Had the girls revealed the exact chronology of events, this prequel would have been screwed from the get go.

Many critics have had their fill now of the “Paranormal Activity” films it seems, but the formula they have created still works to a strong effect. That invisible spirit still can scare the crap out of us, and it actually makes me open to seeing “Paranormal Activity 4” get made. Granted, Paramount Pictures and Oren Peli can only keep going on for so long, but they have made it this far without losing any of the power which made the original so damn scary in the first place. Here’s hoping the filmmakers don’t trip over themselves in the future. We all know what happened to “Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows.”

You’ll still need a Bloody Mary (the drink I mean) after this thing is over.

* * * out of * * * *

Tommy Lee Wallace dropped by the New Beverly Cinema on October 30^th, 2010 to talk about his directorial debut, “Halloween III: Season of the Witch.” This is the Michael Meyers-less sequel of the long running franchise, and it played as a double feature with “Trick ‘r Treat.” Those who are disappointed by the bare bones DVD of this movie (Tommy is campaigning for a special edition of it) were in for a treat as he gave us plenty of information about what went on behind the scenes.

When Tommy was brought up after the movie ended, his reaction to watching it so many years later was that it resembled “one of the strangest and most bizarre movies he had ever seen.” You’d almost think that he had forgotten that he had directed it let alone be credited for its screenplay.

The original plan for “Halloween III” was to work with an original screenplay by Nigel Kneale, best known for his work on the “Quatermass” series. What Nigel ended up writing was as Tommy put it “brilliant and deeply, darkly grim,” and that it was more of a cerebral, intellectual horror movie than your typical slasher fare. But it turned out that everyone thought that the overall story needed more work, and Tommy said that he and John wanted to make it more commercial and scary for audiences. As a result, Nigel took his name off of the movie feeling that the filmmakers would simply “butcher” what he came up with. Many of the gory killings featured in the movie were added after Nigel left.

Tommy did go on to say that he really liked Nigel’s script, and that he hopes to put it online in its entirety for all to see someday.

While making the movie, Tommy described himself and the crew as being “under the gun” as it was a low budget affair like all other horror movies. Understanding how to do wok on the cheap, Tommy said that all the “el cheapo” special effects taught him a lot about simplicity which turned out to be a great virtue. John Carpenter has had a great career because of this simplicity he said.

As for John Carpenter’s participation, Tommy said that Carpenter gave him “full autonomy” on the project as he always expected to have it on all his movies. Originally, Joe Dante (director of “Gremlins” and “Innerspace”) was set to helm “Halloween III” but later turned it down when something else came up. Having worked on many of Carpenter’s previous movies behind the scenes, Tommy was originally offered the gig of directing “Halloween II,” but he turned it down as he saw no way to top the original. But upon being offered “Halloween III,” John and Debra Hill told him that neither wanted to do a sequel as John hated “Halloween II.” With that in mind, Tommy jumped at the chance to direct it, and this would serve as his feature film directorial debut.

The only barrier Tommy had to deal with before he could accept the job was getting the blessing of Dino De Laurentis. Previously, Tommy wrote the script for a movie Dino produced called “Amityville: Possession,” and he said that the one rule he told everyone to remember is that “you do not fuck with Dino.” In response to Tommy’s request, Dino begged him not do the film, but Tommy said he was determined to get his blessing because he would have directed the movie otherwise. Clearly, we know that he got it.

With “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” John Carpenter and Debra Hill wanted to turn the franchise into an anthology of movies about the season of Halloween. Looking back, the original was really not about Halloween at all (the original title was “The Babysitter Murders”). But when it came to releasing this particular “Halloween” movie, Tommy said Universal Pictures did not do enough to prepare audiences for it. Audiences sadly did not want something new; they wanted Michael Meyers back and breathing heavy while slashing over stimulated teenagers.

One of the biggest influences on “Halloween III” turned out to be the original version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” directed by Don Siegel. Like that one, this sequel was meant to be a “pod movie” and could not be mistaken as something nice. Tommy even wanted to shoot it in Sierra Madre where that classic was filmed, but it didn’t look good enough. The production team had driven all over Northern California looking for the perfect small town to film in, and it took them forever to find it. Tommy said they were never as lucky as they were with John Carpenter’s “The Fog.” Also, the town’s name, Santa Mira, is the same as the one in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

The big difference between “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “Halloween III” was in the way it ended. Don Siegel wanted his film to close on a highway with Kevin McCarthy screaming frantically:

“THEY’RE ALREADY HERE! YOU’RE NEXT! YOU’RE NEXT!

Instead, that movie ended the same way it began, in a police station. All this did was indicate to the audience that every little thing was going to be alright. Tommy Lee Wallace said the ending of “Halloween III” was dedicated to Don Siegel for what he tried to pull off, and it leaves the fate of the world up in the air, making it far scarier as you mind was forced to think about what actually happened. Universal Pictures however put pressure on John Carpenter to change it to something more upbeat. When John asked Tommy if he wanted to change the film’s ambiguous climax, Tommy refused to do so, and John defended his decision to the studio.

Tom Atkins name in the credits as well as his first appearance onscreen generated a huge applause from the audience at the New Beverly that evening. When it came to casting “Halloween III,” Tommy said that Tom Atkins was already a part of the John Carpenter company of actors, and that Atkins’ performance in “The Fog” was served as his audition for the role. Tommy went on to explain that in casting horror movies, they cane easily get ruined by “pretty boy casting,” and he felt that it didn’t need to be the case here. Atkins naturalistic performance is commendable considering that much of what he has to deal with is utterly ridiculous. You also have to give him credit for wasting no time in bedding the main female character played by Stacey Nelkin.

Another actor who got applause was the late Dan O'Herlihy who portrayed the movie’s chief villain, Conal Cochran. Tommy described Dan as being perfect for the part and said that he was always prepared. He went on to describe Dan as a man from the British Isle, Irish, and as someone who was never afraid of getting sentimental. Dan’s performance was a fiendish mix of a friendly persona which is a cover for his grisly nature. RIP Dan.

As for Stacey Nelkin, the first question from the audience was whether or not her character was a robot throughout the entire movie. Tommy said that he honestly didn’t know and figured that Cochran’s company was really good at making robots in the first place. Stacey was a very appealing presence in “Halloween III,” and perhaps Roget Ebert put it best in his one and a half star review of the movie:

“Too bad she plays her last scene without a head.”

Then there’s the movie’s commercial for the Silver Shamrock masks which features a song that is annoying as hell and impossible to get out of your head. Alan Howarth, who composed the score along with John Carpenter, was given credit for doing the jingle and putting it to the tune of “London Bridge” from “My Fair Lady,” but Tommy said that it was his idea more than anyone else’s. The rest of the score is excellent and very hard to find on CD.

As for the voice on that Halloween jingle, it is Tommy Lee Wallace’s. They were originally going to hire someone else to do it, but when they found that the guy they wanted cost $550, it was determined that they couldn’t afford him. Tommy got the job soon after, and he said he got into the mood by doing the smooth tone of a “stupid radio voice from the 50’s.”

One audience member asked Tommy if there were any product placements in “Halloween III,” and he said there were not. The moderator of the Q&A said this wasn’t really the kind of movie that would allow for that. It was also clarified that no one ever asked to move that can of Miller Lite beer closer to the camera.

“Halloween III: Season of the Witch” was designed to be a diatribe against consumerism, and it didn’t turn out to be a very elegant one at that. The movie cost $2.5 million to make, and it ended up grossing about $14 million at the box office. While it did make a tiny profit, the sequel was considered a major commercial and critical disappointment. Tommy said he fell into an abject depression for months as he felt he did a shitty job on the sequel and would be consigned to “movie hell.”

But after all these years, Tommy discovered that “Halloween III” had developed a cult following and an increased number of fans. It turns that a lot of people watch it every single year. He was stunned to hear that this was the case, and people continue to invite him to speak at annual horror conventions about his movie. Having been originally released back in 1982, we have had more than enough time to reflect on the kind of movie it was. While still not a great film by any stretch, it was entertaining to watch “Halloween III” with an audience. It made it all the easier to tolerate that Silver Shamrock song that annoyingly sticks in our heads long after the end credits have rolled.

Certainly, there are other “Halloween” sequels that are far worse (“The Curse of Michael Meyers” is the pits), and the moderator put it best when comparing the third movie to “Halloween: Resurrection”:

“Do you prefer this or Busta Rhymes?”