Because “you demanded it,” the box office darling Paranormal Activity has spawned a new iteration, this time in the form of a pseudo-prequel-sequel that actually weaves the events of the first movie into itself in a fairly clever manner. But is it worth your $11 otherwise?
Well, it depends. If you enjoyed the startling monster-jumping-out-of-the-closet scares and off camera loud noises featured in the first Paranormal Activity, you will love Paranormal Activity 2. Because aside from some additional, slightly more original scares and a more elaborate ending, Paranormal Activity 2 is the exact same movie as Paranormal Activity 1.
…but there are some minor differences. Instead of a psychic, it’s a wise Latino nanny. Instead of a lady and her boyfriend, it’s the lady’s sister and her husband, daughter, infant son and dog. Plot-wise the film extrapolates somewhat on events of the first, explaining in vague internet chatroom terms how this particular haunting may have begun long ago, and how the events of the first film ended up occurring at all. It’s American exposition at its finest, which at times will leave you groaning for the same reason that The Blair Witch Project and so many other films like it may have; because the characters are always filming the whole goddamn thing. What’s incredulous about this is the fact that the director actually gave the characters an out for this plot device, as they install a CCTV system in the first few minutes of the film, potentially excusing them from having to film their private arguments about demons, shady pasts and setting fire to family photos.
Typical POV pseudo-reality niggles aside, Paranormal Activity 2 does deliver when it comes to rattling your cage. And while the most truly frightening parts of the film are in the first 30 minutes – a detailed portrait of suburban life and child-rearing – the rest of it does a fairly decent job of continuously ratcheting the tension from scene to scene, with special effect-free scares and moments that keep you frightened (and laughing, often, due to some hard to swallow comic relief) until the penultimate finale in which things go generally apeshit and lead to the events of Paranormal Activity the First.
Essentially, if you paid to see the first movie and liked it, you’ll like this one too. I did, and I didn’t even really like the first movie. How’s that for an endorsement?
