Day 184: October 31st, 2010
Paranormal Activity 2
The last bit of this film made up for the first half.
Paranormal Activity 2 is the story of one family who decide to get some security cameras installed in their home after they suspected they were robbed. What the cameras find is something more paranormal.
The first film was made for next to nothing in one guys house with some friends. It had good special effects that seemed more realistic because of the simplicity of everything. It was a huge success based on word of mouth. Ca-ching. Now we have a sequel. In sequels usually the filmmakers will go bigger and better. Paranormal Activity 2 still has the same low key feel to it but at the same time it does feel grander.
I was bored to death with the first half of this film. The building of the tension was a bit slower for me than I would have liked. Paranormal Activity, if I remember correctly, did not take as long to get to where it wanted to go. The building of suspense here is too mundane. Luckily for this film, the second half woke me up and it was some pretty exciting stuff. Let me get this out of the way though, it does not have the same affect as the first one. The atmosphere that was in the air with the theatre from the original was gone with this one. We knew what to expect. We knew what the scares were going to be. "Okay, this is where the door closes. This is where she gets dragged on the floor. This is where we hear noises."
With that being sad, this film did do a few things differently than the first. The original film relied on visuals to scare the audience. Shadows, hooves imprints, flaming Ouija board, blankets, possession, etc. The sequel however relies more on sound. The sudden loud moments are what make you jump, not the visuals. The jump scares are in this one where the uneasy tension of fear was in the first.
The sequel also tries to up the ante by introducing a baby in danger. Babies are defenseless after all. Let's not forget animal endangerment as well. All aspects that overall did nothing for me, but it was a nice addition to change it up a little bit. The film also has some sort of story that goes with it. It gives a little bit of information on why these things are happening and I was surprised that they decided to go this route.
I give them credit for making it connect to the first one more than I thought it would. It doesn't come off as a sequel with no purpose (even though it actually is). The story it dives into gives more background to the first events and connects the dots. I must say that the last 5 or so minutes were the best part of this film.
Paranormal Activity 2 gets a thumbs up from me, even if it does lack the charm, fear and respect of the first one.
Paranormal Activity 2
The last bit of this film made up for the first half.
Paranormal Activity 2 is the story of one family who decide to get some security cameras installed in their home after they suspected they were robbed. What the cameras find is something more paranormal.
The first film was made for next to nothing in one guys house with some friends. It had good special effects that seemed more realistic because of the simplicity of everything. It was a huge success based on word of mouth. Ca-ching. Now we have a sequel. In sequels usually the filmmakers will go bigger and better. Paranormal Activity 2 still has the same low key feel to it but at the same time it does feel grander.
I was bored to death with the first half of this film. The building of the tension was a bit slower for me than I would have liked. Paranormal Activity, if I remember correctly, did not take as long to get to where it wanted to go. The building of suspense here is too mundane. Luckily for this film, the second half woke me up and it was some pretty exciting stuff. Let me get this out of the way though, it does not have the same affect as the first one. The atmosphere that was in the air with the theatre from the original was gone with this one. We knew what to expect. We knew what the scares were going to be. "Okay, this is where the door closes. This is where she gets dragged on the floor. This is where we hear noises."
With that being sad, this film did do a few things differently than the first. The original film relied on visuals to scare the audience. Shadows, hooves imprints, flaming Ouija board, blankets, possession, etc. The sequel however relies more on sound. The sudden loud moments are what make you jump, not the visuals. The jump scares are in this one where the uneasy tension of fear was in the first.
The sequel also tries to up the ante by introducing a baby in danger. Babies are defenseless after all. Let's not forget animal endangerment as well. All aspects that overall did nothing for me, but it was a nice addition to change it up a little bit. The film also has some sort of story that goes with it. It gives a little bit of information on why these things are happening and I was surprised that they decided to go this route.
I give them credit for making it connect to the first one more than I thought it would. It doesn't come off as a sequel with no purpose (even though it actually is). The story it dives into gives more background to the first events and connects the dots. I must say that the last 5 or so minutes were the best part of this film.
Paranormal Activity 2 gets a thumbs up from me, even if it does lack the charm, fear and respect of the first one.
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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."
Suspect's Reviews
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."
Suspect's Reviews