(2010) ***
The original Paranormal Activity focused on Katie and Micah, a young suburbanite couple seemingly plagued by a poltergeist. As Paranormal Activity 2 begins we are informed that the events that have been recorded take place 60 days before the events of the original film, which means that the sequel is a prequel. Although there are cameos by the unappealing couple from the original, the prequel focuses on Katie’s sister Kristi, her husband, Daniel, their teenage daughter, Ali and baby Hunter, and their housekeeper.
After their home is seemingly ransacked (nothing is actually taken) Kristi and Daniel have a 6-camera surveillance system installed giving us many different angles of the modest home including the front walkway, the swimming pool, the living room, the kitchen, the stairway leading upstairs, and Hunter’s nursery. At first not much is captured; a few pots and pans fall down and the family dog seems preoccupied with the cellar door. Ali is the first to be convinced that something otherworldly is occurring in the home after experiencing several strange events. Daniel, who does not believe in such nonsense, berates Ali for upsetting her stepmother, Kristi, who becomes increasingly unhinged. When their Spanish housekeeper repeatedly attempts to cleanse the house from evil spirits Daniel insists that she stop lest she wishes to lose her job. After some upsetting events occur with baby Hunter and the family dog Daniel can no longer ignore what everyone in the house keeps telling him, something terrifying is happening in their home. The slow build crescendos with a taught 15-minute climax, which dovetails nicely with the original film and provides us with a (slightly) more enlightening understanding of what happened to Katie and Micah.
Paranormal Activity 2 is a caffeinated version of the original film. The home surveillance system expands the scope of the story by allowing us to follow paranormal events as they unfold across the home. Those looking for gore or non-stop frights will be disappointed and if you did not like the first film your opinion is unlikely to be changed with this slightly improved sequel. The real tension in Paranormal Activity 2 comes from watching static video shots of the various rooms and constantly scanning them to find evidence of paranormal activity before it becomes blatantly obvious. Seemingly innocuous objects and shadows become menacing if watched long enough and occasionally there are some in-your-face frights. The final moments of the film are shocking and took me by surprise. So why only 3 stars, you ask? After watching the original film and the cheap (effective) knock-off Paranormal Entity, I fear that this concept is already played out. I’m a sucker for things that occur on video but this better-than-the-original sequel offers nothing new. Wait for the rental.
