2010
Katie Featherston as Katie
Sprague Grayden as Kristi
Brian Boland as Daniel
Molly Ephraim as Ali
Directed by Tod Williams
Synopsis: a prequel to its predecessor, Paranormal Activity 2 tells us the story of Katie’s sister Kristi and her family, including her new son, Hunter. After a bizarre break-in where nothing goes missing, Kristi’s husband Daniel has several video cameras installed around the home; they also hire a Latina nanny for the baby, who tells them that something sinister is residing in their house.
The second installment of Paranormal Activity is quality. The plot gives us some back-story to explain some of the craziness from the first film, and it also takes us in a new direction in terms of why the baby is involved. The technology is greatly improved from PA1; while the night-vision camera was impressive for the time, it was a little limiting in terms of how the activity was recorded. Adding security cameras to cover more of the house gives us a greater scope of the events that occur.
Great scenes:
- The basement climax. HOLY. CRAP. I still can’t watch it, which is stupid, because I just make up creepy stuff in my mind while I listen to the scene. The sound effects are so great—I can feel the “presence” every time I watch this.
- Kristi’s experience in the kitchen. So great. I love effects that make me jump and the people on the screen run out of the room shrieking. Super-fun.
- It’s cheesy, but I love the pool cleaner on the deck every morning. Not sure why.
I like this movie. There’s one scene that really pisses me off, and I think it’s unnecessary, but at the same time it increases my empathy for the Rey family. I don’t like it when people (or demons) mess with animals, especially the animals that are trying to protect their family. Again, I think it makes me more a part of the movie, but that in turn makes me more scared. So I’m not sure, obviously how I feel about it.
Scream Meter: 5/10 This one definitely got me. The basement makes me lose my mind.
Buddy Meter: 5/10 I don’t ever want to watch this alone. But for reasons stated above, I think that I’m a bit of a wimp, so others might fare a little better.
Overall Rating: 7/10 I like it a lot. I think it has more to hold the audience’s interest than the first one, and I became emotionally vested in PA2, because frankly, Creepy Katie just weirds me out. The family aspect changes my interest level.