**This post contains spoilers, including thoughts on the extended version**
The Story- Kristi Rey (Sprague Grayden) returns home with her husband, Dan (Brian Boland) after giving birth to their son, Hunter. A series of strange paranormal occurrences disrupts the family’s peaceful and carefree lives. Kristi, Hunter, Dan, and Dan’s daughter, Ali (Molly Ephraim) are all targeted by a vicious entity.
Kristi’s sister, Katie (Katie Featherston) warns her about the dangers of interacting with the entity, and the nanny, Martine (Vivis Cortez) offers her help with unconventional methods. But one thing is clear, blissful ignorance is not an option, as the disturbances escalate and Hunter becomes the primary target for the entity.
My Thoughts- It’s easy to feel sympathy for Kristi, Dan, Ali, and Hunter. They’re a wholesome all-American family. Kristi’s is a caring stay-at-home mom. Dan is the leader of the household with a healthy sense of humor, and Ali fills the role of the happy and sometimes bratty teenager.
Paranormal Activity 2 is the first film in the series that starts off the security camera, or cameras set up all around the house era in the series. I’ve always had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the nighttime recorded footage looks great. Similar to the bedroom scenes in the original Paranormal Activity, there’s a spookiness to the security camera scenes at night. Just watching everything unfold, you know there’s always a good chance something serious is going to happen.
The downside? Watching security camera footage gets kind of boring and tedious after a while. I get the whole point of building the anticipation, showing how the entity is toying with, taunting, and in some cases attacking members of the Rey family. It’s all important footage that proves an evil supernatural force is the culprit. Still, so many scenes featuring ordinary footage of the pool or outside the front door in the middle of the night kills the momentum. It’s more of a bummer, if you’re hoping or waiting for something to happen……and nothing happens.
Paranormal Activity 2 shows a lot of visual clues that put the pieces of the puzzle together. Notice how after the supposed break-in Hunter’s room is the only room in the house that was left untouched. The shadow of the entity looming over Ali, while she’s taking a nap, or Hunter levitating in his crib. The scratches and blood stains on the basement door, the sudden spike in activity on the baby monitor, the bite mark on Kristi’s thigh that’s similar to Katie’s bite mark in the previous film. One thing is clear, the entity is carefully choosing who it attacks, and who is spared or used for bigger plans.
A new born baby and an evil entity? TWO good reasons to record! As the story progresses, there’s a noticeable transition from recording Hunter and just having fun to recording all the strange events connected to the entity. Evidence is necessary to try and understand what’s going on, especially Ali urging a stubborn Dan to watch the tapes, because he doesn’t believe in “haunted house crap.” And when the time comes, the night vision POV is crucial for survival.
Katie kills Kristi and abducts Hunter! The cleansing ritual, led by Martine, to save a clearly possessed Kristi was a success, and Hunter is safe. But there’s one big problem: The entity passed to and possessed Katie.
Not only does the ending tie into Katie’s whereabouts after the ending in the original, the home stretch for PA 2 was well executed. After the intense ritual that saved Kristi, there’s a calming sense of peace throughout the house, and bam! Katie shows up. She brutally murders Dan and Kristi, kidnaps Hunter, and disappears.
After the original, you already knew Katie was possessed. It’s not too hard to predict that she might show up at Kristi’s house, but it’s still a good shocker, considering what she did and how she did it. The sound of that snap, when Katie broke Dan’s neck was NASTY.
Dan had to make a hard decision. The entity could only be passed on to a blood relative. He knowingly doomed Katie, but Dan is the leader of his household. A short, short list of options to try and save Kristi and Hunter.
We’re introduced to a fresh set of new characters in Paranormal Activity 2. Kristi, Hunter, Ali, Dan, Ali’s boyfriend, Brad (Seth Ginsberg), and Martine. Hunter is the first born male in Kristi and Katie’s family since the 1930’s. Through Ali’s research with Brad’s help, it’s revealed Katie and Kristi’s great grandmother possibly made a satanic pact to exchange riches and prosperity for Hunter’s soul. And of course, there’s no happy ending if the pact is tampered with or broken for any reason.
Paranormal Activity 2 moves the story forward using a clever prequel/sequel hybrid approach, with a smooth transition into the current timeline for a strong finale. Keep in mind that Kristi’s story takes place in Carlsbad, California, while Katie’s story simultaneously takes place in San Diego.
Some questions are answered. We know why Katie’s childhood picture was set on fire around the edges, and on a lighter note, we can see why Micah (Micah Sloat) was so obsessed with owning his own video camera. Katie and Kristi have some uneasy conversations about the evil force that disrupted their lives, when they were kids. The Ouija board returns, but it’s only used in one scene with Ali and Brad. It’s also nice to see the continued effort to maintain realism. No intro, no opening credits, and a message thanking the Carlsbad Police Department.
Nothing in the extended version changes the direction of the story, or has any kind of meaningful impact on the ending. Night #4 and Night #11 from the security camera footage are exclusive to the extended version, or you can also call it the director’s cut. Overall, there’s nothing too special about the extended version. You’ll see more scenes with mind games and taunting from the entity, including Dan rushing to throw a flaming pan in the pool. There’s also a scene, where Dan jumps into the boiling hot whirlpool, and the hilarious aftermath with Dan needing a bag of frozen peas to nurse his wounds.
Paranormal Activity 2 has its problems, but it’s still a solid follow up to the original. Some spooky and tense scenes, and the jump scares worked (the kitchen cabinets bursting open on an unsuspecting Kristi is a good one). Only three scenes stick out for brutality, but they’re still impactful scenes. The entity snatching and maiming Abby (the family dog) off-screen implies whatever it did to Abby must’ve been too horrible to witness.
The second film in any kind of franchise is always crucial. It’s a measuring stick to see if there’s any potential, if there’s truly a reason to keep going with the story, without making more sequels for the sake of making more sequels. Paranormal Activity 2 does more than enough to justify another film, featuring a shocking cliffhanger that’s loaded with a lot of possibilities.
Rating- 6/10
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