Review of Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) by Dov D — 08 Oct 2012

As far as sequels go, this is one of the weakest comparatively. Oren Peli passed on the torch to director Tod Williams, and, although Peli still helped with the script, with that change, so changed the direction of the franchise.

The addition of characters, cameras, and larger, more cluttered rooms created a faster paced, more distant film. The characters here were less developed and less likable than those in the first. Another difference is that the paranormal entity had a home (the basement) whereas in the first one he was everywhere (a much more intimidating prospect.

Also, during the night camera scenes, since there is so much switching in such crowded rooms, the audience is left searching for paranormal activity instead of being forced to wait for it, resulting in significantly less suspense.

One thing that bothered me more than all of these was how blatantly Tod Williams ripped off the final scene of [rec] (Quarantine). Bottom line, this is a much, much weaker version of the original; however, it still does provide some decent scares and somewhat connects to the worse of the two endings to the first one plot wise.