Paranormal Activity 2 Review

This is a strange one...

I sat in the cinema falling for it hook, line and sinker. I've read some reviews subsequent to seeing it that have decimated it and in the cold light of day I completely empathise. But I sat in the cinema tense and scared and unwilling to watch the screen.

The story and set up are basically the same as the first film. Weird things happening in a house, CCTV, locked off night shots, weird things caught on camera starting small and escalating to the finale. The events of this film are linked to those of the first in a way I have to say I quite liked. This time around the paranormal activity centres around a little toddler which is another idea I really liked. The baby is scared but doesn't know why. Or he isn't scared because he's too young to understand what is happening but we are scared for him. Pots fall, footsteps approach, walls are banged and the "dragging out of bed" scene from the first film is reprised but in a bigger way this time around as the sequel, whilst still being really small budget, nevertheless cost slightly more than the paltry $15,000 of the first. Make no mistake, this is the same film all over again and, loss of originality aside, if you enjoyed the first, I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy the second.

I re-read my review of the first film and I was full of praise for it, apart from the let-down ending, a problem that reoccurs in the sequel. What's interesting is that I haven't gone back to it as there simply isn't much story to tell. It's a one trick film that pulls off its trick very well. The sequel is exactly the same way and I can't imagine returning to it any time soon. I was scared in the cinema because ghost stories scare me and this is well done. Add to that a couple of good ideas and the film is definitely worth a look. Judging by the box office, I'm sure Paramount are already hard at work on Paranormal Activity 3. This could become their Saw franchise. Quite how far and for how long you can spin out films like this I don't know. But then this is Hollywood. And I'm sure there are plenty more characters who will place CCTV in their homes to capture their personal paranormal activity.

6/10