The first Paranormal Activity was the surprise hit of 2009. The movie shocked Hollywood execs after making crazy amounts of money with a budget of only around $12,000. I heralded the movie as one of the scariest movies I had ever seen due to the dramatic tension-filled buildup, and the philosophy of less is more, building up to a shocking ending. With as much hype as the first garnered, there is no possible way the sequel can be anything but a way to make more money, right? Wrong.The first movie setup some rules, such as waiting for the now iconic bedroom cam signifying something terrifying is going to happen, along with most of the events happening at night. The sequel smashes those rules and amps up the terror as the film uses a clever story of security cameras being installed after an alleged break in. With the security cameras and an addition of a handheld camera, we see a family with an interesting relation to the events to the first film as something terrible unfolds before the audiences eyes.
The movie did some really clever things like interweaving the story of this movie with the first. As a result, both movies are scarier. The film also took advantage of some of the primal fears we have, such as something in the basement, fear of the dark, and afraid of being alone. The script was also more complex with more characters, like the father, who was pretty funny and quite genuine; the mother, who is also Katie's sister; the younger daughter, who was also convincing, and the maid, which was a bit silly.
While the first filmed had some jarring moments, there were probably only two or three, leaving the tension and eerie events to sit, leaving it a bit more cerebral. The second had some cerebral elements, but the jarring moments were much more frequent with three or four moments that scared the crap out of the audience, leaving the theater buzzing with an uneasy laughter that few movies can reproduce.
With all the brilliant things the movie did, I think the movie abandoned the steady incline of tension the first one had, and started off a bit slow, setting the premise and the rules, only to notch the terror up to an 11, and kept it there until the end of the movie, which left the possibility of a third movie open, without it being necessary.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie, and thought it did a good job of amping up the terror, and being a great compliment to the first film, which is required viewing for this film. The storyline was original and fresh, and the jump scares were effective over and over. While I was blown away with the first, I really enjoyed the second as a solid scary movie. I will be telling my sister not to see this movie, because I just don't her nerves can take it.
