Are you ever really . . . alone?
Swift shot: Nicely ties in the original, but with a less interesting cast overall. Takes a long time to get to the action, a really long time. Not anywhere near as scary as the original. Best to rent this one too, because you can save yourself from all the idiots in the theater. Read here for a list of them all! Watch it alone, or rather what you consider . . . “alone”.
If you saw the original, you know how the format works, lots of hand-held and mounted cameras make up the only “footage” that becomes the Paranormal Activity experience. Nothing changes with PA2 – all the camera angles are solely provided by camcorders and security camera footage.
We follow the video diary of a family bringing up a baby boy, Hunter. The father, Dan, is an older dad who has a teenage daughter, Ali, from his deceased wife. Dan is married to Kristi, and this is her first child – a son. The family is your typical modern American family, connected, enduring and endearing to one another. There is no real drama in the step-parenthood dynamic either – all of them get along. With Hunter being so young, the family hires a nanny, Martine, who feels the presence of evil spirits. She smudges the house to rid it of evil spirits and to let the good ones in. She blows it!
It’s an interesting twist on the original, the characters lineage is explored more, and the film-makers leave a lot of room for sequels, prequels, you name it. The genealogy explored in PA2 allows for infinite options for even semi-talented writers.
The sequel forces the viewer to tap even more into their imagination, as a German Shepherd, Abby and the toddler, Hunter are the primary witnesses to the subtle chaos unfolding around them. This new story does a much better job of dealing with the skeptic personality, with a real pragmatist in the father, Dan, who gives a more convincing delivery compared to Micah. Dan really doesn’t believe in anything super-natural, where Micah always seemed a little wishful that it would be cool to have a ghost, Dan truly doesn’t believe in any nonsense. I liked that, because it makes the transformation of his character more interesting when things start to get loud and scary.
Like the original, PA2 deals in subtle suspenseful build-ups, but when things get real, they get incredibly real. And overall it’s a fun film, if you can sit through the not-so-fun stuff and keep your sanity. Credit to director Tod Williams for not taking cheap, easy shots to scare the audience throughout. No head-spins nor speaking in tongues, nothing like that, just like the original, with the exception of a few scenes, the supernatural (special effects) are kept to a minimum and never over-done.
What really ends up being the interesting thing about PA2 is also what makes it lose star points – there is a lot of nothing, again, until the end. But, I do like how they explained why things are happening to the family, that kept my interest going. This one won’t terrify you like the original, but I would wager if you have had any personal “paranormal activity” in your life – it will certainly raise the cockles on the back of your neck, as you wonder if those old demons might not sense your fear – and come back for some seconds. After all, solitude is merely an illusion – “the greatest trick the devil ever pulled off was convincing man he doesn’t exist.”
Until zero hour, I was the only person in the theater and was thinking AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME – then, the DBs arrived, only six people total – and still managed to F it up! I introduced my roommate to the original, and he watched it with headphones and his laptop, kinda perfect for these films really. Gives you more a sense of immersion methinks.
I'm definitely going to wait for Blu-Ray on this one. The trick to these movies is too watch them alone in the middle of the night. That's how the first one worked so well for me. Sorry the noise making idiots showed up to your screening in force.