Paranormal Activity 2 ««½
R, 91m. 2010
Cast & Credits: Brian Boland (Dan Rey), Sprague Grayden (Kristi Rey), Molly Ephraim (Ali Rey), Vivis Cortez (Martine), Katie Featherston (Katie), Micah Sloat (Micah). Screenplay by Michael R. Perry, Christopher B. Landon and Tom Pabst based on the film “Paranormal Activity” by Oren Peli. Directed by Tod Williams.
Back in the day when I reviewed movies I always approached writing them from the journalist standpoint like I was covering an event. This meant I would either have a pad with me taking notes as I viewed the film to help me write the review later, or I would make mental notes of things I saw and quotes I heard and then research more about the movie on the Internet afterwards.
If I had used this same approach to reviewing Paranormal Activity 2, the notes I would have made, be it mentally or written, would have included the number of “Boo!” moments the film has. My definition of a “Boo!” moment are those where the viewer hears nothing but dead silence while viewing the film. Then just when they least expect it, something happens and members of the audience jump or scream. The perfect example of a horror/suspense film that made great use of this technique was What Lies Beneath (2000) which starred Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. I am sure there are plenty of other movies like this but none come to mind right now.
These “Boo!” moments were the prime selling point which propelled last year’s low budgeted ($11,000 to make according to imdb.com) October surprise, Paranormal Activity (2009), into a $100 plus million dollar hit. Yes, I did jump in my seat particularly at the end. This was thanks to a lot of the “supernatural” moments chronicled on a webcam at night in the bedroom as the terrorized young couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) slept.
(Warning-spoilers ahead): Paranormal Activity 2, which is a prequel to the first one’s tragic events with Katie and Micah returning, offers up plenty of those same, sometimes tense “Boo!” moments. The focus this time though is on Katie’s sister, Kristi (Sprague Grayden), who just gave birth to a baby boy, her husband, Dan (Brian Boland), teenage daughter, Ali (Molly Ephraim) and their nanny, Martine (Vivis Cortez) who have been experiencing unexplained disturbances after finding their home ransacked by who they assume were burglars.
Instead of a webcam, home surveillance cameras capture the sounds of heavy menacing footsteps and low rumblings while the family’s German shepherd senses an unseen presence in the baby’s bedroom. Just like in the first one, each scene begins with such words as, “Day #3” showing the date, month and year. To my disappointment, there is even a scene what I call a “Katie moment.” Just as Katie got pulled out of bed by the invisible entity in the first one, Kristi gets pulled down the stairs one night in similar fashion and even exhibits the same bite marks shortly afterwards. Seeing this, I came to the conclusion demons don't have much imagination if all they do when terrorizing homeowners is grab women by their legs to a dark room where they take a bite out of their thighs.
The most unexpected surprise Paranormal Activity 2 offers is when Kristi confronts her husband asking how is it he has to keep putting the chlorine machine back into the pool every morning. Dan assumes it’s because someone else took the machine out of the pool when they were swimming.
As many times as the security camera focused on the swimming pool at night, I never noticed that until Kristi mentioned it. Perhaps maybe it was because I saw the film on IMAX and being seated four rows from the screen, I had to look from left to right to notice everything that was happening.
I have often seen on such documentaries like the Discovery Channel’s A Haunting how people who have experienced ghost activity dread returning back to their haunted houses afterwards.
There was an impending sense of dread I got prior to seeing Paranormal Activity 2 but not the kind various homeowners have experienced following a ghostly encounter. The kind of dread that came over me was the knowledge the filmmakers and most likely the movie’s distributor, Paramount Pictures, saw once they realized the first one struck box office gold on a filmmaking budget of just $11,000. Instead of concentrating on delivering a sequel that offered something completely different and unexpected, all the studio and the filmmakers saw in terms of hoping to score another gold mine was the color green.
©10/25/10
R, 91m. 2010
Cast & Credits: Brian Boland (Dan Rey), Sprague Grayden (Kristi Rey), Molly Ephraim (Ali Rey), Vivis Cortez (Martine), Katie Featherston (Katie), Micah Sloat (Micah). Screenplay by Michael R. Perry, Christopher B. Landon and Tom Pabst based on the film “Paranormal Activity” by Oren Peli. Directed by Tod Williams.
If I had used this same approach to reviewing Paranormal Activity 2, the notes I would have made, be it mentally or written, would have included the number of “Boo!” moments the film has. My definition of a “Boo!” moment are those where the viewer hears nothing but dead silence while viewing the film. Then just when they least expect it, something happens and members of the audience jump or scream. The perfect example of a horror/suspense film that made great use of this technique was What Lies Beneath (2000) which starred Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. I am sure there are plenty of other movies like this but none come to mind right now.
These “Boo!” moments were the prime selling point which propelled last year’s low budgeted ($11,000 to make according to imdb.com) October surprise, Paranormal Activity (2009), into a $100 plus million dollar hit. Yes, I did jump in my seat particularly at the end. This was thanks to a lot of the “supernatural” moments chronicled on a webcam at night in the bedroom as the terrorized young couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) slept.
(Warning-spoilers ahead): Paranormal Activity 2, which is a prequel to the first one’s tragic events with Katie and Micah returning, offers up plenty of those same, sometimes tense “Boo!” moments. The focus this time though is on Katie’s sister, Kristi (Sprague Grayden), who just gave birth to a baby boy, her husband, Dan (Brian Boland), teenage daughter, Ali (Molly Ephraim) and their nanny, Martine (Vivis Cortez) who have been experiencing unexplained disturbances after finding their home ransacked by who they assume were burglars.
Instead of a webcam, home surveillance cameras capture the sounds of heavy menacing footsteps and low rumblings while the family’s German shepherd senses an unseen presence in the baby’s bedroom. Just like in the first one, each scene begins with such words as, “Day #3” showing the date, month and year. To my disappointment, there is even a scene what I call a “Katie moment.” Just as Katie got pulled out of bed by the invisible entity in the first one, Kristi gets pulled down the stairs one night in similar fashion and even exhibits the same bite marks shortly afterwards. Seeing this, I came to the conclusion demons don't have much imagination if all they do when terrorizing homeowners is grab women by their legs to a dark room where they take a bite out of their thighs.
I just know, however, eager audiences looking for a good scare will welcome such scenes with frightening delight. I won’t argue that director Tod Williams and producer Oren Peli, who directed the predecessor, again succeed in delivering the goods. That, however, doesn’t sit too well with someone like me who goes in expecting something new and shocking.When daughter Ali is asked for her opinion on “this whole ghost situation” once the family realizes their home might be haunted and says “I think it’s awesome,” I had hoped that comment would apply to this sequel. What I got instead were rehashed moments of supernatural déjà vu right down to the rip-off ending seen in the original.
The most unexpected surprise Paranormal Activity 2 offers is when Kristi confronts her husband asking how is it he has to keep putting the chlorine machine back into the pool every morning. Dan assumes it’s because someone else took the machine out of the pool when they were swimming.
As many times as the security camera focused on the swimming pool at night, I never noticed that until Kristi mentioned it. Perhaps maybe it was because I saw the film on IMAX and being seated four rows from the screen, I had to look from left to right to notice everything that was happening.
I have often seen on such documentaries like the Discovery Channel’s A Haunting how people who have experienced ghost activity dread returning back to their haunted houses afterwards.
There was an impending sense of dread I got prior to seeing Paranormal Activity 2 but not the kind various homeowners have experienced following a ghostly encounter. The kind of dread that came over me was the knowledge the filmmakers and most likely the movie’s distributor, Paramount Pictures, saw once they realized the first one struck box office gold on a filmmaking budget of just $11,000. Instead of concentrating on delivering a sequel that offered something completely different and unexpected, all the studio and the filmmakers saw in terms of hoping to score another gold mine was the color green.
©10/25/10
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