Fresh Reviews: Paranormal Activity 2

Rated R for strong language and violence (but no explicit gore).

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Anyone who's seen the original "Paranormal Activity" obviously had to be wondering a number of things... for instance, how in the world could it even be POSSIBLE to do a sequel? And if it were possible, why would anyone WANT to (how could anything that followed up that story possibly add anything to it we hadn't seen before?). Then we learned that the main characters in this new movie just happened to be Katie's sister Chris and her family, and the set-up was virtually the same, with the security cameras recording day and night to capture suspected demonic presences... so almost more of a remake than a sequel. Anyone could be forgiven for letting their expectations for "Paranormal Activity 2" drop down to subterranean level. But while this film doesn't have quite the shock & surprise level of the original, it still has more than enough scares... and even imagination... to keep viewers awake nights. Who would have thought?

Some two months before the events in the original movie, Chris and her husband Daniel, their daughter Allie and the newborn baby and dog have experienced what appears to be a break-in of their home (except that, suspiciously, nothing was taken). They set up a complicated series of security cameras to capture any suspicious criminal activity on tape, but it turns out to be more supernatural than criminal activity. Confessing the truth to her sister Katie on her visits, Katie implies that the eerie activities might have something to do with some unsavory family history... but what is after them, and can they possibly stop it before it's too late?

It was a smart move to have the lead characters in this film be an entire family, not just a couple as in the original... it sets up an entirely different dynamic as far as relationships and atmosphere. Particularly since this is clearly not your classically dysfunctional family... they all are actually devoted to each other, even the teenage daughter (no rebellious teen angst here), and while Daniel initially has his doubts (for obvious reasons... wouldn't you?), he isn't the obnoxious, off-putting character that Michael was, and is eventually convinced of the supernatural reality the family is facing. That was one minor problem in the first film: how do you care what happens to someone who's so unlikable? No problem this time.

Although the film is (mostly) a prequel rather than a sequel, avoiding the problem of "where do you take it from here?", that doesn't necessarily guarantee that the movie will be able to break free of the "it's really a remake" pattern, especially since the set-up is a virtual copy of the first movie. Also not a problem here, as it turns out. Different sorts of supernatural mayhem menace this family (along with a few old favorites, of course) and some genuinely mundane objects such as a pool cleaning machine and ordinary pots and pans become objects of fear. A lot of it is really subtle, too... I really appreciated moments such as when Chris goes running to the baby's room to comfort him, and you see the little mobile over his crib moving UNTIL the second she sets foot in the room, when it promptly stops... UNTIL she walks out of the room with him, at which points it moves again until she returns. In spite of the change in director and screenwriters, Paramount has actually managed to find film makers who have mastered the art of scaring you while virtually never actually SHOWING you anything that would normally be considered terrifying.

One aspect of "Paranormal Activity 2" that could have easily gone very, very wrong is the fact that a number of things that were mysteries even at the end of the original movie are answered in this film (despite its taking place almost entirely before that film). We dig into the past of Chris and Katie and learn some specific reasons why the supernatural seems to out to get them, and why the events you see in this movie led to those in the original. Horror movies are generally at their most effective when you don't understand all of the whys and wherefores of what you're watching, and usually tend to fall apart when explanation time comes. In this case, the more you learn, the more the tension rises and the more uneasy you feel. How they manage that, I'm not sure, but it's quite a feat.

Of course, none of this should be taken to mean that I would welcome a "Paranormal Activity 3" (this film doesn't exactly "promise" one, but then the original didn't seem a natural for a sequel, either). The film makers have managed the nearly impossible task of capturing lightning in a bottle a second time, but I sincerely hope that will be enough for them. Let's let things be and not risk "Paranormal Activity" becoming another "X-Files" as it goes too far past its sell-by date. That said, though, "Paranormal Activity 2" is one of those rare sequels that's could give sequels a good name. You want to be scared by movie makers who are genuinely interested in SCARING you, and not just grossing you out with a lot of graphic blood and gore? You've come to the right place.