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21 October, 2010 at 4:23 am

‘Paranormal Activity 2′ Movie Review

I loved Paranormal Activity, but we were a little leery of Paranormal Activity 2 since most sequels suck. We were wrong and if you loved Paranormal Activity, you won’t be disappointed with Paranormal Activity 2. We weren’t and we’re hard to please!

I can hardly remember that Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity wasn’t an overnight sensation. In fact, we first saw it at the Screamfest Film Festival in when it screened there October 2007, and then Dreamworks picked it up like something from the cutout bin for just $350,000 assuming it would be a straight to DVD or just remake it with a couple big name stars.

I think many of you will agree with Best Movies Ever that thankfully Stephen Spielberg actually watched the film before doing all of those things and realized that sometimes you don’t have to Hollywoodize films to make them become hits.

If any of you remember Dreamworks only put it in 12 theaters it’s first weekend where it only made $77,000, but the holy grail of word of mouth worked wonders for the film that was barely marketed. 13 weeks later it had raked in nearly $110 million. Then suddenly the studio marketed the crap out of Paranormal Activity 2 along with replacing the original director which made many of us very nervous since it could’ve been another Blair Witch 2, but we’re happy to say that this isn’t the case at all.

Paranormal Activity 2 follows Katie’s sister, Kristi (who is mentioned in Paranormal Activity) and her family as they encounter the same malicious spirit that haunted them in their youth. One day they come home to find their house wrecked and assuming that a burglar broke in (but didn’t steal anything) and install security cameras throughout their entire property. This reminded me of Baby’s Room, as most of the action takes place through these surveillance cameras. At the center of it all is Kristi’s newborn baby, Hunter, whose eerie birth seems to have set off this malicious spirit. What we found interesting is that Paranormal Activity 2 works brilliantly with Paranormal Activity (we watched that one again before watching 2) as companion pieces.

Director Tod Williams does a great job of giving that same feel to Paranormal Activity 2 that Oren Peli (Producer on PA2) did to Paranormal Activity. Even with a bigger budget, Williams doesn’t go the crazy FX route, he retains that creepiness that held us in the original. If you hated Paranormal Activity, don’t bother going to this one since it retains the same brilliance, but if you loved or even liked the first one, then definitely get your butt to see this one.

This time around Paranormal Activity is playing on 2,900 screens and obviously word of mouth will keep it going, although Paramount has made sure we know about it. It opens officially on Friday, October 22, 2010 but there’s several cities that doing midnight screenings.

Above fans lines up for the sneak preview of Paranormal Activity 2 in New York City at the Sony Loews on 34th Street. One of Best Movies Ever favorite theaters there.

Best Movies Ever rating: B+
Paranormal Activity 2 is one of those rare sequels that lives up to the original but doesn’t surpass it.

Paranormal Activity 2 Original Movie Trailer Best Movies Ever