Movies
Paranormal Activity 3
“Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman inject the mythology with life, jam-packing it with heart-exploding scares…’PA3′ is what the sequel should have been – a mythological launch pad loaded with scares, tension, and more importantly, payoffs…Not since ‘The Ring’ remake, or the first ‘PA’, has a film been so brooding and unnerving.”
Click here to read Corey Mitchell’s review.
Click here to read Brad McHargue’s review.
The filmmakers behind Paranormal Activity 3 are listening to their fans, quickly washing their hands of PA2, which was widely considered a near-clone of the groundbreaking 2009 found footage chiller by Oren Peli. Reflecting back on PA2, I don’t quite like it as much as I did last October, especially after seeing the third film in the trilogy. Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, PA3 is what the sequel should have been – a mythological launch pad loaded with scares, tension, and more importantly, payoffs. Paramount Pictures referenced Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist in the trailer (a line that’s not in final product), which is fitting considering the filmmakers capture a lot of the essence of the Steven Spielberg-produced haunter, only with a fraction of the budget.
PA3 opens with footage from ‘05/’06 using Katie (Kate Featherstone) and her sister Kristi (Sprague Grayden) as a way of introducing a series of VHS tapes that reveal the back story of the family in 1988. This time we jump into the lives of Julie Bittner (Lauren Bittner) and her boyfriend Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith), who are raising both Katie and Kristi (Chloe Csengery). Dennis is a wedding videographer, who is inclined to begin taping their bedroom, the family living room/kitchen, and children’s bedroom after a series of weird occurrences. Julie is talking to an invisible friend named Tobye, while a major earthquake reveals “something” in the dust. This kick starts the “investigating”.
While the movie wastes a good 30 minutes with obnoxious “jump scares” (one of which is out of this world amazing), the pace is picked up exponentially as the paranormal occurrences go from fun to scary in a blink of an eye. As one character states, “This ain’t no Casper the Friendly Ghost”…
Not since The Ring remake, or the first PA, has a film been so brooding and unnerving. PA3 utilizes some brilliant camera techniques that creates a level of anticipation that’s sure to give some viewers their first ever anxiety attack. While one camera is placed in the girls’ room, the other is propped on a fan base so it can rotate back and forth throughout the night. Every single time the camera pans off screen, and back again, the viewer is expecting some sort of jolt — and it delivers. PA3 ups the ante by toying with the audience, as it’s extremely self-aware. Beyond the “fan cam”, one such example would be the hilariously badass “Bloody Mary” sequence, as teased in the first trailer. In a brief spoiler, when Katie plays Bloody Mary with a friend of Dennis’, the lights flick on and nothing happens, to which Katie screams, “You did it wrong, we have to do it again!” It’s such a light-hearted moment that’s quickly put to an end with one of a hundred gut-punching scares.
Unlike the first two films, the latest entry doesn’t have a safe zone, meaning anything can happen at anytime of the day. Kids are playing? Doesn’t matter, sh*t’s going down. Mom’s in the kitchen reading a magazine? Sh*t’s gonna hit the fan.
But the most impressive aspect of PA3 is that, unlike PA2, it’s basted in a series of memorable moments that rival that of any franchise. The audience will remember scenes from PA3 and be talking about it for years to come.
P3 explains A LOT without being too exposition heavy (one piece of back story is clipped to keep the audience guessing). It has the characters act in an extremely naturalistic way (they leave the house, finally) and add to the mythology by filling in plot holes from the first two (I guess they’re not holes anymore…) P3 also sticks true to the franchise roots as you will NOT see the demon. Hopefully your imagination is as good as mine…
I thought PA2 was a pretty fun copycat of Peli’s first film, only seeing PA3 has made it null and void. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman inject the mythology with life, jam-packing it with heart-exploding scares (even the most fierce and difficult of genre fans will jump out of their seat) and non-stop supernatural insanity. Fans who have turned their backs after the dull sequel can rest assure that PA3 takes everything to an off-the-charts and in-your-face new level of terror.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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