Paranormal Activity 2

Year: 2010
Director: Tod Williams
Writer: Michael R. Perry, Christopher B. Landon
Genre: Horror: Haunting

Last Halloween I watched Paranormal Activity and was pleasantly surprised. On a whim, I decided to hit up the sequel and see if it was still good. This version takes us into the lives of another family and they're a bit more interesting. You've got a mother, father, daughter, baby boy, the mother's sister, and even a dog in the cast. If there was one issue with the first movie it was that it felt a little too foreign to moviegoers with having only two main characters.

So, we've got a nice cast of rounded-out characters. The premise remains pretty similar about spirits coming after people for whatever reason... Then of course there are cameras around the house just like in the original which help you see the hauntings. It's something I liked most about the first film. Things are shown on camera but most of the time it's very minor stuff. For example, a door opening slightly or a pot falling in another room. It's all very small stuff and I appreciate it.

What I don't appreciate about Paranormal Activity 2 is that it pulls more Hollywood-styled hauntings into the mix. About 3/4th of the way through the movie I felt like I was watching Poltergeist. That's a fine movie on its own but in this one where it is attempting to be "found footage" the hauntings seem much less plausible.

The movie was still okay but felt stretched by the end. I wish they could have kept the atmosphere of the first without having to go and blow it later on. If you like this movie you should also check out REC.