Paranormal Activity 2

Paramount Pictures

4.5 out of 5 stars

Ghosts, horror films and occurrences of paranormal activity – I love the concept of them all. I grew up watching shows like Ghost Adventures and Most Haunted, so when the first Paranormal Activity film came along, I was there at its opening.

The previews lied – but that didn’t hurt my feeling since the differences enhanced rather than detracted from the experience.

The second movie appears to be a sequel to the first film, but in fact, it’s more of a prequel that covers a timeline both before and after the death of Micah and the disappearance of Katie.

Plot is the most important element to a film, and the writers did a give-and-take juggling act to balance feeding the audience key information and withholding too much information.

Part of the give-and-take came from elements of the first film that reappeared in the second film, like Katie and the old picture of Katie. I suggest viewers watch Paranormal Activity before seeing the second one, because it’s easy to get lost without the background knowledge the first movie provides.

The previews also lied in that many scenes in the previews – such as baby Hunter in the middle of the road or the figure of Katie standing alone in Hunter’s bathroom doorway – never happened in the actual movie.

At first, I was displeased the previews made the plot to be something other than what I was expecting, but then I decided not knowing what would truly happen added suspense to the film.

The first movie was heavily criticized as being more comedic than scary, and to some extent that is true. While there were suspenseful moments, most of the action happened in the last five minutes. Paranormal Activity 2 is different than its counterpart as the action was spread throughout the second half of the film, and still managed to be suspenseful.

The paranormal activity that was seen in the first film, like loud bangs and people being dragged out of rooms, occurred to a greater extent in the second film. The whole theatre jumped and screamed when all the kitchen cabinets flew open and cookware went tumbling down around the main character, Katie’s sister.

Likewise, while in the first film Katie is dragged down a hallway to the attic, in the second film, Katie’s sister is dragged down a flight of stairs, through the first floor of the house and into the basement. I was so scared during that scene I covered my eyes.

The ending scene when demonic Katie shows up to her sister’s house – I won’t spoil the ending completely – is eerily reminiscent of the final scene of the first film, but it still managed to freak me out.

With a bigger production budget, more cameras and characters were brought in to bring a different feel to the scenes and to create a better dialogue between the characters. In the movie there were both handheld and stationary cameras, so not all activity that took place in the house was immediately known to all the characters – that is, until the tapes were reviewed.

Paranormal Activity was a movie that viewers either loved or hated, with no “in-between” option. The sequel (or prequel, depending on how you look at it,) has the ability to turn the haters into lovers. The original elements from the first film are still there, but the anticipation and freaky action was turned up several notches.

So, for those who hated the first one, give the second one a chance and you may be pleasantly surprised. For those who loved the first one, the second will have you curled up in a corner scared all over again. For those who have not seen the first or second one – get with the program.