Paranormal Activity 2

Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Molly Ephraim

Directed by: Tod Williams

Rating: Liked It

It has been probably three years since I originally watched the first of this series, and I have to confess - no matter how unobservant it may make me look - that I didn't recognize Featherston and Sloat from the first film until about half way through the movie.  I was really confused on how they would tie the two films together, but after I came to that realization, I felt a lot better about the whole thing.  

First things first: this movie was no where near as creepy as the first film.  I think Paranormal Activity stepped outside of the horror genre box at the time and took us away from the traditional slasher films and the torture-porn that had been growing in Hollywood.  The movie was about scaring you, not grossing you out.  The second movie was good, but the interaction with the demon was different.  

The first movie showed us how two everyday people might deal with this type of situation, but the the sequel showed us a family that believed nothing was really happening for most of the movie...at least the father.  The sound of the film was scary for sure.  The lack of background music in a movie can intensify emotions, especially fear.  We're so used to hearing that music that when it's missing, we really notice.  

The acting for the most part was good.  The camera work was all from security cameras in the house and a handheld home video camera a la the first film.  The scare just wasn't the same.  

Anytime a film tries to push a sequel where it's not really needed, we have trouble.  This is one of those times, and I hear that they're already working on a third installment.  This was still better than a lot of horror movies that have been out recently, but it's hard to bottle that lightening twice.