Plot: What’s it about?
Movies that are an unprecedented success these days are a rarity. The original “Paranormal Activity” was made on a scant budget of about $11,000 and went onto gross nearly $200 million worldwide. That doesn’t happen too often in this day and age. Most movies that make $200 million worldwide use half of that on advertising and promotion. So went without saying that there would be a “Paranormal Activity 2” and the question wasn’t “if” but “when.” There was a trick, though, as “Paranormal Activity” like “The Ring” and “The Blair Witch Project” had a certain gimmick associated with the movie. So a second installment would probably have to pull off the same feat, while still staying true to the original storyline. So would “Paranormal Activity 2” be able to live up to the high standards that the original set and, more to the point, still make money?
In a word – yes. For those that have seen the original, and if you’re reading this review then I assume you have, you’ll see a couple of familiar faces here. I’ll just say that this movie happened before the “events” of the first one. That’s all I’ll say. In this sequel, though, we meet new parents Daniel (Brian Bolland) and Ali (Molly Ephraim). They’ve welcomed their new child Hunter into the world. They have a live in nanny, Martine (Vivis Cortez) who takes care of the child. About a year passes and we get re-acclimated with the family. They’re greeted to their house being trashed, but ironically enough, nothing’s been stolen. Every room has been touched except Hunter’s. They decide to get a top of the line security system with cameras on the key rooms of the house. Not too long after this, some strange things start to happen. We notice that the pool cleaner ends up outside of the pool every morning, doors shut without notice and pots and pans fall from a hook in the kitchen. Ali becomes increasingly suspicious that there are more sinister things at play, though Daniel blows them off. Do Ali and Daniel live in a haunted house or is it simply a figment of her imagination?
It’s pretty much unanimously agreed that “Paranormal Activity 2” managed to do what many thought was impossible. It was just as good as the original without being a total carbon copy of it. The fact that it’s a prequel actually makes sense and as I said earlier, I won’t give anything away to either movie (though the opening credits movie do). This duo of movies certainly has its detractors, I’m sure, as they could come off as “gimmicky” but there’s a realistic feeling associated with both of these that really hits home, pardon the pun. I suppose the use of home video (or in this case, surveillance cameras) do convey more of an attitude as opposed to some glossy, Hollywood movie. Admittedly, after seeing the first one I kind of knew what to expect here, but they did manage to pull it off without completely duplicating the original. If you’re a fan of the genre, there’s likely nothing I can say that would deter you from seeing this. And why would I?
Video: How does it look?
“Paranormal Activity 2” certainly has a unique look about it, and it’s pretty similar to the original. All of the shots are done either with a home video camera or seen via video surveillance. That said, the 1.78:1 AVC HD transfer makes some of the scenes look remarkably good, while others suffer from edge enhancement. Granted, this is part of the look and feel of the film and this is one of those few instances in which the standard DVD will probably look just as good as the Blu-ray. Colors are a bit on the muted side and a majority of the film does take place at night. Contrast is a bit on the muddy side and though I saw no evidence of artifacting, black levels do look on the up and up. If you’ve seen the original, this one is more of the same.
Audio: How does it sound?
The back of the box might say “DTS HD Master Audio” soundtrack, but let me assure you that this is far from anything that will shake the room. Most all of this film is dialogue-driven with only a handful of times when the surrounds are actually in use. Some of the scenes are downright hard to hear as it’s via a handheld camera. Again, like the video, the audio “makes more sense” if you’ve seen the original. The dialogue is a bit off from time to time but by and large it gets the point across. Don’t expect a whole lot here as “Paranormal Activity” does deliver, but not like we’re used to.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As popular as these two movies are, you’d think that we’d get a large number of supplements for the Blu-ray. You’d be wrong. Granted, we do get the “Extended Cut” but apart from that, we get a few minutes of deleted scenes and a trailer. Yep, that’s really it. Oh there is a digital copy of the movie on the second disc. Yay.
