Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Scary? Oh yes. But "Paranormal Activity 2" is slow-going with a lackluster ending: C+


So this time around, we're introduced to Kristi, Daniel, Ali, and Hunter Rey. As usual, some odd things start to happen at the Rey house that prompt the family to begin recording the activity in their home.

Remember Katie and Micah from the first "Paranormal Activity?" Well, they just so happen to appear poolside at the Rey house (I guess this is a prequel?). Kristi confides in her sister, Katie, about the weird things going on at the house. Katie recommends that she stop talking about them with the whole If-you-talk-about-it-things-will-get-worse excuse.

Adhering to the formula of most haunted house plots, Daniel simply doesn't believe that anything paranormal is going on. It's funny how men refuse to acknowledge that something is out of their control. As Kristi tries to convince Daniel that something is definitely wrong, Daniel's teenage daughter Ali begins to notice also. That dumb bitch decides to bust out a Ouija board one night, and - guess what? - some scary shit really starts to happen.

Some kitchen cabinets fly open, some pots swing back and forth, the electronic pool-cleaner crawls its way out of the pool, some doors slam really loudly, etc. I think the scariest part was when the spirit started to mess with the baby, Hunter. Apparently, babies are really delicious this time of year and they're ripe for the picking.

I was truly scared, no joke. This movie did a great job of keeping you in suspense, with that urgent desiore to cover your ears and look down at the ground to avoid watching the horrendous things on-screen. But there was a - HUGE! - problem with the story. **SPOILERS ON DECK**

So, the evil demon spirit of the house decides to go after Kristi. It drags her from the baby's room, down the stairs, and into the dreaded basement. When Kristi, emerges, she is obviously possessed. She stares off into space, she has a huge bite mark on her inner thigh, and she won't eat or sleep. Well, the Hispanic ex-housekeeper suggests that getting rid of the demon would be the best option. In order to do that, Daniel must "transfer" the energy of the demon to a blood relative of Kristi. And guess who that might be...?


Yeah. So, I guess the whole explanation of the first "Paranormal Activity" is that the demon actually stopped by Kristi Rey's house first in order to get that scrumptious rich-in-fat baby meat, but was kicked the f*** out and sent to Katie and Micah's place instead. You would be pissed off too!!!

So the end of "Paranormal Activity 2" shows Katie stumbling into the Rey house, bloody from feasting on the flesh of her boyfriend, snapping the neck of Daniel and making her way to Hunter. She kills her own sister and gets the baby, and as the two of them exit the room, you can hear the baby giggling.

So LAME!!! I seriously would've enjoyed the movie much more if it wasn't for the sorry-ass ending, attempting to link the two movies together. I think it would have been smarter to have "Paranormal Activity 2" focus on a completely new family, a different bloodline. The ending really ruined things for me. But other than that, I found "Paranormal Activity 2" to be mildly entertaining, and certainly terrifying. I would recommend watching it, but avoid the agony of the last twenty or so minutes if you can.

4 comments:

  1. Huh. I agree that the movie was genuinely scary, but I fall into the category of folks who loved the twist ending, how it all comes together to create one cohesive story.

    On the plus side, I can't possibly imagine how they could continue this baby/Katie story in PA3, so I assume this years movie will be all new, non-bloodline related.

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  2. This excellent prequel once again proves that in a horror movie, often the less you see, the more intense the story. Good Review!

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  3. Good review, Rachel, but like Andy and Dan, I loved this movie. I thought the original was a fluke when I first saw, but it's great to see a sequel actually improve on it. A perfect double bill, IMHO.

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  4. Kristie rey looks hot in her singlets

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