Much like The Blair Witch Project, last year’s Paranormal Activity arrived with huge fanfare. The inevitable burning question was whether it could deliver the pay-off promised by its promotional campaign and tense build-up. Unfortunately, despite a number of genuinely innovative and chilling scares, the final product somehow didn’t warrant the hype.
Fortunately, Paranormal Activity 2 appears to have been taking notes from its predecessor – reiterating and expanding on its strengths, and removing or reducing its weakest aspects. Consequently, Paranormal Activity 2, though certainly not flawless, feels surprisingly satisfying.
The major plus points here – elaborating on elements from the first movie – are undoubtedly the scares. As is typical for horror sequels, the jump-out-of-your-skin moments are presented in much broader strokes – bigger, louder, and more violent. This may be a point of contention for some viewers as a focus on pure tension is substituted for full on action; but what it lacks in subtlety, in makes up for in impact.
What also comes as a welcome addition is the focus on humour. Many of the scares early on are played for laughs and even as pastiches of the original.
But it’s not all about the jumps. Director Todd Williams succeeds in creating a believable and sympathetic family unit; the addition of toddler Hunter amps up the tension as the poltergeist’s intentions become increasingly sinister.
Though the links between this family and the previous movie characters, Katie and Micah, work relatively well, there is always the question of whether this would have succeeded as a stand-alone story, completely separate from the plot of the original.
It’s this very aspect that hinders the movie more than any other. As with the previous Paranormal Activity, attempts to inject an actual plot or back-story (usually by way of a nifty bit of Googling) fall flat. Luckily, these points are minimised and won’t trouble you for too long.
There are also a few horror clichés that jar (investigating strange noises, going up the stairs instead of out of the door – you know the drill), and there’s no doubt that some of the scares are all too predictable.
But these are marginal problems, and if one is willing to suspend disbelief, the movie does succeed in creating a genuine thrill-ride.
Gone is the frustratingly mundane build-up of the original and its lacking pay-off; instead we have bigger and bolder jumps, an engaging story, and a genuinely shocking (if convoluted) climax.
Though far from perfect, it seems that Paranormal Activity 2 delivers what the original never managed to. And from now on, saucepans go in cupboards – locked cupboards…
Grade: B
