The Movie Press
  • Movie Reviews
  • Twitter News/Updates
  • News & Notes
  • DVD
  • Box Office Results
  • Contact
  • About Us

"Paranormal Activity 2" delivers a suspenseful dose of noisy, invisible scares

10/22/2010

1 Comment

 
Paranormal Activity 2
With Halloween just days away, the rush of requisite horror movie sequels are descending upon your neighborhood theater. First on the slate this year is Paranormal Activity 2, which drops before the other big sequel of the season, Saw 3D, and offers some less gruesome thrills for those who shy away from all-out gore porn. 

The tension in this follow-up to the surprise hit Paranormal Activity—the low-budget Blair Witch-like faux documentary in which a couple films themselves sleeping and review the tapes every morning for supernatural activity—is fueled by a sense of extreme vulnerability, a la Psycho's shower scene. The reason for introducing cameras in Paranormal Activity 2  is security surveillance after a family discovers their house has been trashed by vandals. The entire movie consists of footage from these security cameras stitched together by home movies, mostly recorded by the family's terrified teenage daughter.

More chilling thrills after the break.

Like it's predecessor, Paranormal Activity 2, serves up a chilly sense of eeriness and dread, though this time around rather than just feeding off fears over our own vulnerability during sleep, the focus is on the powerlessness of an infant the things that go bump in the night seem to have their sights set on.

Paranormal Activity 2 serves as both prequel and sequel to the original, providing insight into the events of the first film and potentially setting up a third movie in the series. But, as the story really takes a backseat to the scares, even the uninitiated will have no problem watching Paranormal Activity 2 (even if they spend much of the movie with their eyes closed).

Following the idea that not showing the bogeyman is far more terrifying than revealing his computer-generated face, the spectral tormentor of the family in Paranormal Activity 2 remains (mostly) out of sight: pulling back the sheets or rattling the cupboards with an unseen hand or creeping across the floor in a slow-moving shadow—evidently the demon code of ethics calls for malevolent creatures of darkness to screw with their victims before devouring their souls. Even when nothing is happening on the screen, it's hard to avoid the feeling of anxiousness that watching pale-colored surveillance shots of the house in near complete darkness (and the old quiet-quiet-LOUD bit) creates.

Much of the film is like a Where's Waldo game—I actually missed at least one subtle scare that made my fellow audience members launch from their seats—with the viewer scouring the screen for something out of place. The suspenseful build drags a little a the beginning, with the first potential sign of a haunting seeming to come from a possessed pool cleaning machine, but things gradually escalate before going bat-shit crazy in the final 30 minutes.

Those who can stomach the suspense will find Paranormal Activity 2 a treat this Halloween, just a make a point to see it before November hits: This is a crowded cinema must. In my screening there were, several hilarious audience outbursts, including the classic "Don't go in there" and one perfectly timed "Oh Lord, I'm going to church!"

--Eric Pulsifer
1 Comment
full version link
10/20/2013 04:33:48 pm

The entire movie consists of footage from these security cameras stitched together by home movies, mostly recorded by the family's terrified teenage daughter.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    October 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008

    Categories

    All
    Austin Film Festival
    Darcie Duttweiler Reviews
    Derrick Mitcham Reviews
    Eric Harrelson Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Fantastic Fest
    Greg Maclennan Reviews
    Greg Wilson Reviews
    Jessica Hixson Reviews
    Mark Collins Reviews
    Monte Monreal Reviews
    Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Sxsw

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.