abnervaught: 'Paranormal Activity 3' Terrifies Fans At New York Screening

Friday, October 21, 2011

'Paranormal Activity 3' Terrifies Fans At New York Screening

Co-director Ariel Schulman warned audience that nobody would be able to sleep after seeing film.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Lauren Bittner in Paranormal Activity 3
Photo: Paramount Pictures

It's not often that you see people standing for hours in a line that wraps around the block just for the chance to get scared out of their minds, but that's exactly what happened Tuesday night in New York at an advance fan screening of "Paranormal Activity 3."

Fans tweeted for a chance to check out the third entry in the found-footage horror series and to learn how the haunting started. Some of the hopeful audience members showed up as early as the morning before the 10 p.m. screening.

Once inside the theater, the lucky crowd competed for prizes like iPods, only heightening the excitement in the room. When it was finally time to screen the movie, directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost showed up, appropriately decked out for Halloween with fake knives and syringes lodged in each of their heads.

Schulman warned people that they weren't ready for the scares in "Paranormal Activity 3," promising that nobody in the theater was going to sleep that night. Among chants of "P-A-3," the lights dimmed and the screams started, and they didn't stop for 84 minutes.

As soon as the screening ended, the fan reaction was clear. "I thought 'Paranormal Activity' was tuck-your-feet-under-the-blanket horrifying," said Jeffrey Caban, who claimed his heart was still racing. Nelson Rosa said he understood "the saying 'my heart skipped a beat' [for the] first time ever."

"It was intense. It had me screaming, jumping up and down, covering my eyes, everything," Maria Huighes said.

Are you excited for "Paranormal Activity 3"? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!

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