Five Scenes From the ‘Paranormal Activity 3′ Trailers That Weren’t in the Movie
A whole lot of people went to see "Paranormal Activity 3" this weekend, no doubt because they had liked the first two films and were enticed by the scary stuff they saw in the trailers for the new movie. Funny thing, though: While the movie works like gangbusters, not everything in the trailers actually appeared in the final film. Here are five of the more memorable scares that are nowhere to be seen. (And if you haven't seen "Paranormal Activity 3," beware of spoilers....)
1. "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary..."
The best scare in the first "Paranormal Activity 3" trailer from the summer was sisters Katie and Kristi hanging out in their bathroom recording themselves as they play the "Bloody Mary" game, which requires them repeating the name three times to make the spectral presence appear. When the girls do it, nothing happens ... but when they walk away we see that a ghost-like figure is right behind them. It's a really chilling image that's not in the movie, although the "Bloody Mary" game is played between Kristi and Dennis' buddy Randy. We don't see a ghost then, but we sure feel its presence.
VIDEO: Clips from Johnny Depp's New Movie, "The Rum Diary">>
2. The Knocking Game
The more recent trailer opens with Dennis videotaping the girls as they do what they call "The Knocking Game": They knock on the mirrored bedroom closet doors and then wait a few moments. Then, a mysterious knock seems to echo in response out of nowhere. When Dennis tells her it's a cool trick, Kristi (who is communicating with the phantom figure Toby) tells him, "It's not a trick." Sure, it's a fun little bit of foreboding, but it's not really necessary in the movie, which has tons of moments just like that.
3. "He's standing right next to you."
In the movie, Julie has a talk with her daughter Kristi about her imaginary friend, who she says is standing right next to Julie. The moment freaks you out in the film, but the trailer adds an extra wrinkle: Kristi throws a glass of water at Toby, who sends the water shooting in another direction. Pretty cool, but the finished film uses this trick at a different time: during the earthquake when dust forms an outline of Toby for a moment.
4. The Man in the Glasses
The recent trailer includes a brief scene where a guy in glasses and a jacket (perhaps a psychic?) informs Julie, "This is not simply about Kristi. This is connected to your side of the family. He definitely knows about--" and then his head is violently slammed into the kitchen table. Uh oh, looks like Toby isn't happy with this guy, who is then yanked across the room by the ghost. We have to admit we didn't really miss this scene, although we feel bad for the poor actor who had to go through this.
Eddie Murphy Promises He'll Show Up for The Oscars >>
5. "We're getting out of here."
One of our favorite things about "Paranormal Activity 3" is that it answers a nagging question from the first two films: Why don't they just get the heck out of the house? We see how well that works out in the new movie, but in the trailer there's a moment where a clearly freaked-out, fed-up Julie tells Dennis that she just wants to get out of the house and drive away. Toby has other ideas, though, yanking her across the hallway and throwing her back into her bedroom. That doesn't happen in the film, but that darn demon does plenty of other horrible things to that poor mom by the time the film's over.
(We're awaiting response from Paramount on a request for comment on the differences between the trailer scenes and those from the feature film.)
You should follow The Projector on Twitter!
