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.
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
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
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