Review of Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) by Shiira — 24 Oct 2010

It's not a mystery, scale-wise, commensurate to the Star Child's true identity, or the origins of the Monoliths, filmically cosmic mysteries that Peter Hyams clarified in his rightfully maligned "2010: The Year That We Make Contact"(the sequel to the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece), but it's still anti-climactic, regardless of the differentiation in pedigree, when the filmmaker literalizes the once heretofore unexplainable materialization of a burnt family photo in Micah Sloat's attic, and in the process, ruins the most enigmatic moment from "Paranormal Activity", the Oren Peli-directed original.

So now we know, to the detriment of the original film's mythology, that among the moving things and unexplained noises in the Sloat household, there was, in retrospect, some normal activity, as well, some debunking, some collaboration with the unseen forces, in which man is shown to be capable of an evil far worse than any demon.

Daniel(Brian Boland) orchestrates a transference, acting on his Latino housekeeper's instructions(not only do they clean houses, they clean souls, too), Kristi's husband sets a photo of Katie on fire, and is presumably the one who does the planting.

Let the picture in the attic just be; let the Monoliths be. So now we know: both sisters married jerks. Daniel probably sleeps on the wrong side of the bed too, a coward, just like Micah, who in "Paranormal Activity", sleeps on the side farthest away from the doorway, so should a demon enter the bedroom, given the positioning on their bed, Katie looks like the brave one, since she's the first warm body that the poltergeist would encounter.

Micah, by all appearances, uses Katie as bait, a means by which the amateur filmmaker can get the best-possible footage of their unwanted guest attacking his girlfriend. In "Paranormal Activity 2", it's the baby who takes the brunt of the supernatural malfeasance, with only a German Shephard, the family dog, standing sentry; a German Shephard who is no Lassie, since he fails to make his owners understand that they have a situation far worse than Timmy being stuck down some well.

He doesn't bark loud and long enough. Too bad "Paranormal Activity 2" wasn't one of those talking animal films, if it was, the dog could tell his human owners to get the f*ck out, now. Speaking of talking dogs, what would Scooby-Doo say? Probably something along the lines of, "Ruh-roh.

The baby is sliding across the side of his crib. This is scarier than the Blair Witch twigs." Poor baby. Nobody thinks to check the playback on the surveillance footage that details the 'round-the-clock nursery going-ons, even though the family reviews the mystery of the gallivanting pool cleaner, and also the slamming door which locks Ali(Molly Ephraim) out.

As is the case in all horror movies since time immemorial, the people are kept in harm's way due to the advice of the rational one, the singular hold-out to the new reality that defies reason, who ends up getting everybody killed, because of his(it's usually a guy) unbending stance against the mounting evidence which points to escape as being the most prudent course of action.

In "Paranormal Activity", the couple stays because Micah wants to finish his movie. In the sequel, there is no such egocentric(Micah is willing to risk his girlfriend's life for his own selfish reasons), albeit intellectual basis for the family to remain as housemates with the devil.

Daniel is just a tool. When it's too late, he turns to Martine(Vivis), the Hispanic maid he fires for being too superstitious. Ever the tool, with Kristi beset in a catatonic state(and in a biting mood), Daniel still gives his housekeeper static, as he protests in disbelief at having to use a cross for the purging.

So now we know the pretext behind Katie's true identity, and just like the Star Child, our understanding of the circumstances that made them who they are, while may be interesting in a cursory way, a gimmick to drive each respective sequel, it threatens the purity of both "2001: A Space Odyssey, and to a lesser, but proportionate degree, "Paranormal Activity", as well.