Masand: 'Paranormal Activity 2' is scary

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Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat

Director: Tod Williams

’Paranormal Activity 2’ spooked me more than the first film, although both movies are constructed around the same central conceit: we're watching home video and surveillance footage throughout, and all the action is confined to a single home.

The previous film featured a young couple, Katie and Micah, who installed a camera in their bedroom to record strange goings-on while they slept. And although very little happened during the roughly 90-minute running time of that film, it did contain a few jump-in-your-seat moments, including a shocking climax that alone justified a watch.

’Paranormal Activity 2’, you might say, is a prequel to the last film. Set in a suburban home in California, it focuses on Katie's sister Kristi from the moment she returns home from the hospital with newborn baby Hunter. When there's a break-in at their home, Kristi and her husband Brian install surveillance cameras throughout the house. Pretty soon, as you may have guessed, things begin to go bump in the night.

The new film raises the stakes in two clever ways. This time there are more occupants in the house apart from the couple: there's a baby, a teenage daughter from the husband's previous marriage, the family's trusted dog, the baby's nanny, and Katie visits quite frequently herself. Also, bugging the entire home with cameras widens the visual scope of this movie. So now they can write a scene in the kitchen where all the cupboards and drawers suddenly open at once, or repeated scenes of a pool-cleaner snaking its way out of the water.

The masterstroke, however, is using the baby. Nothing's more scary than watching the door of a little child's room slam shut suddenly, or the sight of a toddler crawling around an empty house that has been taken over by a spirit. There's another particularly terrifying scene involving the baby but I'll leave you to discover that for yourself - you'll know which one when you see it!

Like the previous film, most of the scares in ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ are concentrated in its final act. But the ending of this film is comparatively less frightening than the last one, and that's a disappointment. It doesn't quite leave you with the same bang!

Still, there's something to be said about a horror film that doesn't use eerie music or special effects to scare you. Watch it at a late night screening; it works as a collective experience.

I'm going with three out of five for ‘Paranormal Activity 2’. Go for it if you enjoy a good scare.

Rating: 3 / 5

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