There has been a hell of a lot of secrecy around the release of ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ – firstly no Media Screenings available for reviewers back then and trying to search the Internet for any information about the cast usually ends up with a big fat nothing – well except for the fact that Katie Featherstone reprises her role from the first. So what does that mean for the film? Well I have to say it’s a bit disappointing considering there was so much hype for the first film and this is one of those rare occasions where the second film (can’t say sequel because it’s actually a prequel) is actually better than the original.
Things That Go Bump In The Night Again – The Story Of ‘Paranormal Activity 2’
This time round we follow Katie’s sister, Catherine and her family – husband, Frank, step-daughter Ally and son, Hunter. They are a happy family until shortly after the arrival of baby, Hunter things start to go seriously bump in the night something that their dog, Ally and Catherine are quick to accept but seriously de-bunked by Frank who is the typical skeptic. Katie warns Catherine to just ignore what is happening however the events begin to be too big to ignore and soon the whole family is under threat.
Tod Williams – New Director At The Helm
All I can say is thank goodness that Oren Peli (‘Paranormal Activity’) handed the directional reigns to Tod Williams (‘Wings Over The Rockies’, ‘The Door In The Floor’) this time around because while many raved about how scary the original in this series was it did nothing for me, however this time round was a very different story. Firstly the characters were a lot more rounded – which meant I actually cared what happened to them and secondly Williams obviously knows that the first rule of making a horror film is that it should be scary.
While I admit that ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ didn’t exactly freak me out it did make me jump a couple of times. Williams masters the idea of creating suspense and then shocking his audience with sudden movements (or sounds in some cases), and certainly made the film realistic with just enough supernatural-goings-on to make it damn scary. Williams also doesn’t hold back like so many horror directors do these days – it doesn’t matter whether you’re an adult character, a baby or even a dog… you’re fair game – the way it should be.
Weak Ending Lets Down ‘Paranormal Activity 2’
My only major fault with ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ was that the ending seemed severely rushed, a shame because it was cruising along quite nicely before then. It did leave me a little disappointed and I’m sure the problem could have been fixed with a script re-working as it seemed the writer was more determined to set up the Third film than he did to finish off this one with a satisfactory ending.
Summing Up ‘Paranormal Activity 2’
However, despite this bad ending ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ was a lot better than the original. It may not be the best horror film going around but at least it provided some suspense and a few jumps.
Rating: 3/5
