Comic-Con 2011: Trailer for ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ Premieres

Fans of a good scare, get ready. With the “Saw” franchise gone and buried (for the time being, at least), there’s an open spot for a hit horror, and “Paranormal Activity” has its eye on the prize. The first trailer is now out.

The highly successful and popular franchise kicked off with the low-budget “Paranormal Activity,” which, after doing the film festival circuit, eventually landed a theater release in 2009.

Though a mere dot on the release map, it managed to cause a huge impact given its very personal and, as such, many times scarier, perspective and lack of Hollywood-specific artifice.

The sequel, though not better, rose to the standards set by the first film and, in the process, set a new record for the biggest opening for a horror movie of all times.

A threequel was to be expected. With a release date set for later this year, “PA 3” has finally gotten an official trailer – and it shows that the film is an origin story.

Useless to note, the film holds no appeal whatsoever for those who have not seen the previous two, since it tells the story of the two sisters and how they came to be haunted as children.

In other words, the third film will offer the key to the mystery only hinted at in the second installment, about how the haunting came to be.

As The Film Stage notes, while it may not have a lot going in its favor in terms of room to be creative with the story, “Paranormal Activity” does have a huge ace up its sleeve: the two directors, new on board, who previously did “Catfish.”

“Catfish directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman were brought on to helm this project just a few months ago, and we already have our first trailer,” the e-zine says.

“Paranormal Activity 2 writer Christopher B. Landon returns with Oren Peli and Jason Blum back producing coming off their huge success with Insidious,” TFS writes.

“The teaser shows us the film is indeed an origin story set in the 1980s, as we see Katie in her youth. […] Although we don’t get much from this teaser, I’m interested to see what these Catfish helmers will bring to this series and if they plan to reinvent the wheel,” the same movie-oriented publication notes.

Below is the trailer. “Paranormal Activity 3” is out in theaters on October 21, 2011.