Paranormal Activity 2 Discussion and Grading

[Admiral_Young]

Haven't seen a thread on this...probably because there are so few that are actually interested in the sequel. I saw the original (before the alterations) last year and absolutely loved it. I realize that these types of movies aren't for everyone and that they can either scare the shit out of you or make you bored to death and that seems to be the consensus of the first film.

So now a year later and becoming one of the most profitable films of all time, Demon Katie is back and haunting her family now. Some of you may remember that I originally was against this sequel, as a lover of the original film I consider Katie and Micha dead, the victims of a tragic unexplained incident. Hollywood though sees more money and a potential franchise they can muck around with.

I've seen most of the viral material online and the trailers have impressed me so far. Going to see this on Sunday afternoon. Anyone else planning on checking it out? Katie is back, it's a mystery so far how Micha factors into the movie but he is supposed to return as well. I'm actually pretty excied about the film.

 

[SalvorHardin]

I've only seen one trailer for this. Looks good but to be honest I'll probably wait for the blu-ray.

Not because I didn't like the first or don't want a sequel but because I believe that this kind of movie can't really work in a theater full of people whispering, talking, getting up to go pee, laughing when they shouldn't etc etc

It requires a couple of friends, silence and a house with no lights on to concentrate on what you see, get fully into it and enjoy.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah this is why I didn't see it in the theater because when my friends went to see it I heard a couple of them didn't like it and were talking and laughing through it. That would have annoyed the hell out of me. I actually saw it online with the lights off in my room and it scared the shit out of me for a good week or so.

 

[Ethros]

Just seen it tonight **Spoilers ahead**




I loved the first one anyway btw. Mmm this wasn't bad, not as bad as I thought it might be anyway. A sequel certainly sounded like a very dirty cash-in. But at least this is no Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows.
It's main problem for me though is there just aren't enough of the "creepy-oh-shit" moments that made the first film great. Yeah there are a few that make you jump and there's one great bit that's freaky as hell. But overall it could have done with some more, most of it was just nothingness.
Also it ends far too abruptly...

Spoiler: Spoilers for the plot and so on

So as to how Michah appears, well actually the VAST majority of the film is a prequel to the first one. With the events of Katie's sisters' haunting taking place before the first movie.
Then - BIGGER SPOILERS HERE - they manage to 'jump' (or whatever you'd call it) the demon's obsession with Katie's sister to Katie herself. Then we see the opening of the first film, indicating the time gap. Then we cut to 3 weeks later or whenever for the end, set after the first film, for the final part of the movie with Evil-Katie going to pay her sister and family a friendly visit.
It's this last part which is WAY too short and abrupt IMO

So overall basically it was what I had hoped for and mostly expected- not bad but not as good as the original.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if there were a third one out next year.

 

[Aragorn]

Do they find Curly's gold or the secret of the ooze in this sequel?

 

[Turtletrekker]

It requires a couple of friends, silence and a house with no lights on to concentrate on what you see, get fully into it and enjoy.

I saw the first movie for the first time last week under these exact circumstances.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Interesting...that would explain the last viral trailer, so does the movie imply that Katie is the demon? Methinks this will set up a third movie.

 

[od0_ital]

Saw it tonight, and it is a prequel not a sequel. There is only one scene that takes place after the events of the first movie, and it ties directly in with how the first film ended.

I did like this one more than the first, which I just saw for the first time Wednesday in my dark apartment with friends. Four of us gathered to see movie for the first time, three of us made fun of it, while the fourth really got into the movie to the point that I made fun of him for not makin' fun of the movie.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I forgot to put the poll up...oh well. I'm seeing it on Sunday. Interesting that they structured part of it as a prequel. I predicted that Katie or the demon would return to haunt someone else in their family. I'm still in love with Katie Featherston I think though.

 

[od0_ital]

^

Not just part of it, it is a prequel.

 

[Ethros]

A decent fair review from SFX Here, basically what I thought
3.5 out of 5

History has taught us that wherever there’s a horror phenomenon, there’s normally a crumby sequel not far behind. Horror fans of a certain age will wince at recalling Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2; those older will feel the same about the second Jaws film. Even last year’s [REC] 2 undid much of the wonder of the original by filling its unnerving void of mythology with unnecessary backstory. There was always the danger that the follow-up to 2007’s no-budget sensation would make a similar mistake.

For the first hour, the mistake Tod Williams’s sequel makes – and it’s a prequel really, but more of that later – takes a different form. Much has been said of the phenomenal monetary return the original film made (created for just $15,000, it recouped $194 million worldwide) and from the off, Williams seems keen to show where some of that money has been spent. He triples the cast of players, demonstrates a slew of different camcorders, and tees up a nightvision coda that should have the aforementioned [REC] team wondering if they can have a share of the spoils too. With increased resources comes a diminished sense of intimacy, both with the scenario and with the cast. It’s harder to care about their plight when you’re struggling to remember all their names.

Yet in setting the sequel mere weeks before the events of the first film – with the story concerning Katie’s sister and the demon’s torment of her family – knowing what happens once all this is through only helps to ramp up the tension. Williams peppers the returning Featherston and Micah Stoat throughout – Micah is not nearly as annoying when you know he’s going to get his soon – and once you’ve come to sympathise with the family’s situation, the dog, the baby, the kid sister and the bigger, grander house all provide a fresh playground for novel new scares.

There’s obviously a plan in place now, with breadcrumbs scattered for at least three future films; a feeling prevails that there’s a franchise being built. Paranormal Activity 2 isn’t as tense as the first film, and sometimes you do wish it was as simple as its predecessor. But it’s certainly a must-see horror sequel – and it’s frightening how rarely you can say that.

 

[Admiral_Young]

That review confirms my own feeling that they want a franchise out of this. I suppose I should have seen this coming when they went back and reshot the ending of the original.

 

[Ethros]

Ha yes, now that the Saw series is confirmed as ending (for now at least) with next week's seventh movie, Saw 3D, maybe Paranormal Activity will take its mantle as the annual Halloween never ending horror series

 

[Admiral_Young]

This kind of pisses me off...I really loved the original ending and when I found out the one they released in theaters was different from the test audience one I was livid haha. To me Katie and Micha should have died, it was more tragic that way but they see money signs. I just read the wikipeida article which has the plot and man yeah aside from the ending which leaves it wide open for a third film it seems kind of pointless.

 

[Saga]

just got back from seeing this. while its not as good as the original its still enjoyable. though, the first half of the movie really drags. i was getting kinda bored. if you liked the first one i would suggest you see it.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I saw it this afternoon and was a little disappointed by it. It definitely wasn't I was expecting. The theater I saw it in was pretty much full with a few seats empty at the front rows because no one sits in the front if they don't want their neck ruined. The reaction from the audience was to be expected, they were scared where one would expect to be scared, there were some jack asses making fun and laughing through the film. I didn't get really scared until the last fifteen minutes of the film...and interesting the way they set up the end by building up the first two thirds as a prequel and by letting us know that there will most likely be a third movie. We get almost no answers or explanations about the demon from the first movie, only that Katie is still possessed and has an attachment to her sister's kid, something that we would have never have guessed from the first movie. There was no mention of Micha or Katie having an interset in kids, this part felt kind of forced but it is implied that this is the demon, at least that is what I took from it. The Demon haunted them as children and has some kind of interest in poor Hunter. It sucks being a baby in a horror flick. With the monster weekend "Paranormal Activity 2" had (40.1) we're pretty much assured a third film next Halloween. I'd give this 2/4 stars and agree with Roger Ebert's review.

 

[Ethros]

You know a problem I had when watching this film too? Recently I've become addicted to Supernatural after buying the series on DVD blind and watching all the series straight after one another (I'm currently two episodes into Season 5)

So when watching this movie I was half hoping at some point for Sam & Dean to kick the door in, the Impala outside, shoot the demon with their salt loaded shotguns, start pouring salt over the windows and doors, set up a devils trap near the basement, maybe burn some bones, and Sam uses his Season 4 demon mojo to exorcise Katie and all this black smoke comes out of her mouth, and all the while AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' is playing in the background.
That would have been a good ending

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Speaking of Supernatural, it was explained that the first born son of the family was to be claimed by the demon (most likely crossroad demon) when the grandmother made the deal to be wealthy. That was the interest with Hunter. Not sure how a third movie could go down. Maybe surveillance cameras all though out the town or city.

My biggest complaint storywise, was why didn't they just call the cops when the really bizarre stuff started happening. They could have just rolled back the tape as proof. Or why didn't the mom and hunter just go with the daughter and dad to the vet. Totally could have avoided being possesed. What a dumb ass, haha.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I will say that I liked the explanation of how the Demon attached it's self to Katie along with the clever tie-in's to the first movie. I suppose my main problem with the film has to do with the non-linear structure of the film, framing it as a prequel with just the final scene of the film being the sequel. I might give it a second viewing by myself. The father wanting to protect his family and ending up causing their death makes him a tragic character, I found similarities that Dan had to Micha. I think Ali will be elevated to hero status in the third film as she attempts to hunt down and stop Katie. Also will be interesting to see what Katie does with Hunter now. I should have put spoiler warnings in the thread title, oh well.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

I wouldn't call the ending a sequel perse, but more of a bookend. I thought it tied together just fine although the ending was a little abrupt and again some of the character decisions that took place urked me. All in all it was decent and will probably be way better than Saw 3D