Paranormal Activity 2

Good news, wary fans:  Paranormal Activity 2 has avoided the Blair Witch 2 curse.  Although it doesn't cover a whole lot of new ground from last year's no-budget horror blockbuster, and it's not quite as good as the first film, the sequel is still a worthy successor with some impressive new scares that are especially fun to watch in a crowded theater. 

For anyone not caught up on the events of the first film:  Paranormal Activity was the story of Katie Featherson and Micah Sloat, a young couple who got more than they bargained for when they tried to use their fancy new video camera to capture a supposed supernatural being that was stalking their home in the middle of the night.  Needless to say, things didn't end well for either of them, and the moral of the film was simply this:  if you have a demon in your house that clearly does not enjoy being videotaped, turn the goddamn camera off, you morons.

The second film is actually a prequel.  It takes place roughly two months before the events of the first film and centers around the family of Katie's sister, Christy.  Like Katie and Micah, Christy and her family live perfectly normal lives in their beautiful suburban home (it seemed like half of the movie took place in their pool).  But of course, all is not normal:  it appears their home was actually the first stop for that pesky demon, who has its sights set on Christy's toddler son, Hunter, and it ain't gonna stop until it gets him.

Tod Williams takes over the directing duties from Oren Peli (who serves as a writer and executive producer on the sequel) who made the smart move to use what worked best from the first film, namely ythe creepy video footage.  Once again, the entire film is captured on video, taken either from the home security cameras installed after a supposed break-in, or from the teenage daughter's webcam.  Where the first film preyed on the relatively simple idea of what goes on in the house when everyone is asleep, Williams just goes for the straight haunted house story, which means the scares don't necessarily all happen at night.  In fact, some of the scariest moments happen in broad daylight.  The film was very reminiscent of the original Poltergeist (which is my favorite haunted house film), and so when it worked, it was on.

I did have a few gripes with the film:  like the first movie, it took forever to get going.  By halfway through the movie, I couldn't stand having to see one more shot of the front porch and the pool cleaner if nothing was going to happen there.  They also tried to loosely build some sort of origin for the demon when they really didn't need to, because it works better when it's just some creepy unexplained thing that won't get out of the house.  Fortunately, it wasn't something they dwelled on too much.

The movie was, for the most part, well-acted (although the dad did get a "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" from a guy in our audience at the show I saw).  Even the teenage daughter isn't overly annoying.  And since it's a prequel, both Katie and Micah get to briefly reprise their roles as well.  And his two short scenes were enough to remind us all of what an incredible doofus Micah was.

If you weren't a fan of the first movie, Paranormal Activty 2 probably isn't going sway you.  It's basically more of the same in a bigger house with an extended family who are just as brain-dead when it comes to making smart decisions in a haunted house (the basement?!  really?!  why would go down there?!).  But if you were creeped out enough to enjoy the first film, I'd definitely recommend the sequel, since you'll most likely enjoy this one as well.