‘Paranormal Activity 2’

Director: Tod Williams

Starring: Sprague Grayden, Molly Ephraim, Katie Featherston

4/5 popcorns

While a good horror movie is something to treasure, a good horror sequel is one of the rarest cinematic feats.

Though it lacks the revelatory spark of its predecessor, ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ is exactly that: a true rarity for its genre. Where most horror sequels fizzle into orgies of meaningless and relentless gore, ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ is a welcome departure. In an era in which mainstream horror films are generally numbing and incessantly violent, the ‘Paranormal Activity’ films function as beacons of horror hope. The film will never be mistaken for a masterpiece, but that’s hardly its intention.

After their home is burglarized, Dan and Kristi Rey (Brian Boland and Sprague Grayden) decide to install four security cameras inside and outside their San Diegohome, fearing for the safety of their teenage daughter, Ali, and toddler, Hunter. Kristi and her sister, Katie (Katie Featherston), recount a supernatural experience from their childhood. Meanwhile, Ali discovers a mythical circumstance on the Internet in which a human gets power in exchange for his or her firstborn son. Hunter, it so happens, is the first male born into the family in generations.

Kristi’s worst fears are realized when she is attacked by the invisible demon, dragged down into the cellar for hours, only to return as a seemingly different person. Dan does his best to rid them of the demon, calling upon their recently fired housekeeper to assist the family in eradicating the evil entity. But this proves to be a tremendous struggle. As in the first ‘Paranormal Activity,’ the demon is ruthless and untraceable, which only exacerbates the Rey family’s frustration.

Sitting through just 10 minutes of an average horror movie without being bombarded with stabbings, disembowelments or decapitations is an accomplishment. This is precisely what makes the ‘Paranormal Activity’ films so satisfying. In keeping with the structure of the first installment, the frights are few and far between in the first two acts, as the suspense builds mercilessly. The film is so restrained that it is frustrating at times, which is exactly the point. By the third act, the anticipation is so heated that the slightest door creak can incite screaming in the audience.

Stylistically, the film isn’t necessarily an aberration from the first in the series, though the filmmakers utilize a four-camera setup rather than the single-bedroom camera that dominated the first film. The footage from the cameras is especially riveting when nothing is transpiring. The audience is allowed, or rather forced, to intensely explore the frame, thus becoming increasingly immersed in the action.

A rare sequel that expertly builds on the strengths of its predecessor while trimming the fat, ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ benefits from the skills of director Tod Williams, whose last film, ‘The Door in the Floor’ (2004), was an acclaimed independent drama. Williams’ talent in directing actors is evident in nearly every scene, using the larger family dynamic to imbue the film with more drama than the original ever offered.

Though it is by no means a perfect horror movie, ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ deserves great praise for not succumbing to the typical horror-sequel trappings. There are quite a few cheap scares, the acting is occasionally subpar, and the movie lacks the innovation of the original, but those are its only discernable flaws. In the case of an average horror sequel, that constitutes a major triumph.

smlittma@syr.edu

Published on October 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm