Paranormal Activity 2 is a really clever follow-up to its predecessor. In the first one, we met a couple being tormented by a demon; the second is actually a prequel that helps establish and contextualize the first one. These aren’t expensive movies, so I’d have expected the execution to feel cheap. It’s not! It’s really nice to see Katie again. Micah is there too. I wasn’t thrilled to see him again, but his presence did emphasize the extremely distinct characterization relative to the dude in the new family.
Yet again, we have one of the sisters (Kristi instead of Katie this time) with a demon hanging around, and the demon is only slightly eviller than her husband. It’s a solid formula! PA2 demonstrates that the makers of PA1 understood what made the first one work. They don’t mess around getting back to business.
While Micah’s obsession with his handheld camcorder was the entire excuse for having the first movie’s “found footage,” the second has home security cameras indoors and out as a reaction to a robbery. So we don’t need a dreadful personality like Micah’s again in order to make sure we have footage of every moment — although handheld cameras are also used, so it still gets to feel intimate and immediate.
The explanation for the demon’s origin is lightly handled. I expect the third movie will get more into the reason a demon goes after Kristi and Katie, but they provide sufficient explanation for the demon’s existence within the context of PA2 as well. Research from teen stepdaughter shows that demons can be summoned to give power and success to men in exchange for their firstborn son. Classy! Dad is a tasteless crapsack.
The crapsackiness of Dad is a throughline here. He doesn’t really believe Kristi at any point. When his daughter gets involved, he becomes more rageful. Gaslight, gatekeep, get attacked by demon! And he makes the biggest crapsack of all crapsack decisions to help set up PA1 as well. It’s extremely satisfying from a narrative standpoint.
The slow build is very similar to the first movie, and it gets very exciting in a similar way too. The most obvious demon influences feel a lot more high budget. I won’t spoil you — it’s fun to be surprised! They get a little carried away with the shaky camera and night vision, like they aspired to be as good as Rec, but I’ll forgive them. I’d badly emulate Rec too.
One jumpscare in this movie actually worked on me.
All in all, it’s extremely fun to watch and yell at it with your family. The Paranormal Activity movies just do such a good job establishing their goals and meeting the goalposts. It’s quite a flashback to the year 2006 in terms of fashion and home design, too.
If you’re like me, and worried about the safety of the baby and dog: Baby is menaced but never in much danger, and dog gets injured off-screen but does survive. I was not bothered by the baby and dog elements of the horror. Truly, this is a great horror flick to watch with the family. We’re looking forward to the next one.
(image credit: Paramount Pictures)
