Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 2

Last year, Paranormal Activity became one of the biggest horror films of 2009, grossing over $193 million dollars. Naturally, Paramount Pictures (who distributed the original film) wanted to capitalize on the film’s success by releasing a sequel in time for Halloween.

Enter Paranormal Activity 2. Since late August, the previews have depicted a family experiencing non-stop phenomena in their home, tormented by an unseen force that has a soft spot for the family’s youngest member, seen in his crib along with the family pet in the trailers. A woman is dragged down the steps, doors slam and it seems as if the movie promises an hour and a half of screams for viewers.

Unfortunately, the screams are few and far between. In fact, the movie theater erupted in laughter numerous times.

For those who watched the original, Paranormal Activity 2 serves more as a prequel than a sequel. Katie (Katie Fetherston), one of the main characters of the original movie, returns to support her sister, Kristi (Sprague Grayden) after giving birth to her nephew, a baby boy named Hunter (Tim Clemens.) Along with Kristi’s new son, she lives with her husband, Dan (Brian Boland) and step-daughter, Ali (Molly Ephraim.) The cameras capture the first months of Hunter’s life with no signs of paranormal activity. When Hunter becomes a toddler, however, weird things start happening.

The family comes home from an outing to find their belongings ransacked, but nothing of value stolen. The only item missing is Kristi’s necklace, which was a gift from Katie. Dan sets up a home monitoring system in response, placing cameras in all areas of the house, including the front and back yards. For several nights nothing out of the ordinary can be seen on camera, though Dan, Ali and Kristi begin to notice little things. Dan leaves the pool cleaner in the pool every night, only to find that someone—or something—has taken it out. Kristi, who is clearly startled, chooses to ignore it. Ali, however, finds the potential of otherworldly spirits inhabiting the house exciting. Dan pays no mind to any of it, citing the family dog, Abby, as the culprit.

As time goes on, the unseen force begins to show itself. In one scene, Kristi is sitting in the kitchen in the morning, unnerved by another unexplained event the previous night. Her fear is visible, and not long after, the kitchen virtually explodes. The cabinets open, drawers slide out, pots that hang overhead come down and Kristi demands that the spirit leave her family alone. From there, the film picks up considerably; unfortunately, there is little more than 30 minutes left in the movie.

Todd Williams, the director of Paranormal Activity 2, clearly wanted to build suspense by not rushing into the action right away. This means that viewers are forced to watch static shots of various parts of the house, wondering if something is going to happen. After about two minutes of scanning the kitchen, dining and living rooms with no signs of activity, frustration begins to set in. As mentioned before, static shots that went on too long had the theater murmuring: “Is the projector frozen?”

I spent more time wanting something more to happen. After all, I am a big fan of action-packed horror movies. The film’s ending did not justify the means of having to suffer through shot after shot of nothing at all and awkward dialogue. Despite everything, the film has gone on to gross over $62 million dollars worldwide in less than a week.

If Paramount continues the Paranormal Activity franchise and releases a film next year in time for Halloween, hopefully things will be a lot scarier and a little less frustrating.