Paranormal Activity 2 Review

Title: Paranormal Activity 2MPAA Rating: RDirector: Tod WilliamsStarring: Sprague Grayden, Brian Boland, Molly EphraimRuntime: 1 hour 31 minutes

What It Is? The movie takes place weeks before the first film. Kristi Rey (Grayden) and her husband Daniel Rey (Boland) have a teenage daughter, Ali (Ephraim) and a toddler Hunter (William & Jackson Prieto), all living in their very big house. The family comes home one day to find that every room in the house has been trashed, with the exception of Hunter’s, leading the family to believe that there has been a break-in, not finding anything stolen. The Rey family decides to install security cameras in the house and on the premises to make sure that if it happens again, the intruders are caught. What happens next, is a string of occurrences, that get crazier each time. The family may soon find out that what “broke into” their house may have never left.

What We Think? Oren Peli returns to produce the sequel to his horror hit, Paranormal Activity. The film took screens and audiences across the nation in 2009 on a ride that may still be etched in the brains of hardcore horror fans. The common occurrence that seems to plague the film industry, however, is the downfall of sequels. We’ve seen it before, from Austin Powers to Harold & Kumar to American Pie. Good sequels are very hard to come by, it’s even more touchy in the horror genre. And last year, it was Paranormal Activity that took my pick for “Horror Film of the Year” in 2009, after its U.S. release. It even went as far up the ladder as for me to name it one of the Best Horror Films Ever. PA2 uses the same kind of camerawork and easiness as it did in the first one, just on a higher budget ($3 million). It has the same feel as the first one, just with some newly added elements (dog, baby, multiple cameras). It builds up the movie slowly, but then soon after packing a punch and giving you a few good jumps here and there. The problem is that it lacked majorly what the first one had, and that was reaction. The first film was done so well that many people walked out of a theater thinking they had just witnessed a legitimate home video, there was so much obliviousness to it. PA2 doesn’t have that magic anymore. Everyone knows that this is a film now, there are a director, a producer, and a script. I can’t say that the acting was good, but it definitely wasn’t terrible. We all were thinking that the return of Katie Featherston was going to be a grand appearance when she really fit right into the film as a regular visitor at the Rey home. They didn’t over-dramatize her appearance, it was a very “matter-of-fact” occurrence.

Our Score: B+, Fans looking for a good scare are probably going to like the movie. However, you have the people who hate anything popular and well-received. There were so many people who thought the first was a joke and stupid and “not scary at all”. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and neither is this one. Those people are going to think this one is worse than the first. Overall, the film gives you some great scares and the style of shooting is what makes the Oren Peli films what they are, and that is, very well done. However, it just wasn’t the first one. The feel of “not knowing what to expect” goes out the window with a sequel. The first is a gem, this one is just “okay”.