Review: Paranormal Activity 2 could do with some activity

Film: Paranormal Activity 2 (A)
Director: Tod Williams
Cast: Brian Boldand, Sprague Grayden, Molly Ephraim, Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
Rating: **

Back again, with better "production values" (ie security cameras this time), Paranormal Activity 2, a prequel to the ultra-successful 2007 hit, fills in the ample gaps in its predecessor’s awkward narrative while trying to mete out fresh chills of its own.

Enter the household of the Reys. Husband Dan (Boland), a widower, doesn't want to acknowledge the presence of spooks. Wife Kristi (Grayden), sister of the doomed Katie of the first film, is beginning to feel that a presence is steadily gaining an ectoplasmic toe-hold by manifesting itself in the lives of her stepdaughter Ali (Ephraim). As time passes we learn that the insidious entity has set its sights upon the couple’s cherubic rugrat Hunter.

The Latino housekeeper’s old-time religion-infused ministrations go largely unappreciated and, unmitigated, the demon begins his terror campaign.

The Paranormal Activity films have been lauded for attempting to bring something new to the genre (a debatable claim). From the onset one can see that there is no prospect of slashing and gore to come. The film, by not rising to its own challenges, becomes a victim of its own ambitions. The odd clanging and banging that herald the presence of the apparition make for paltry chills.

Apart from the said paranormal, there isn’t much activity taking place. That, apparently denoting realism, might be considered jolt-worthy by some but does little to punctuate the general tedium.

In terms of acting there are some very good performances, vital for such an endeavour, from every quarter, especially from Ephraim and Boldand.

Visually, the film attempts to put across the gradual unsettling metamorphosis from a humble domicile to hell house through the eyes of the cameras. This is an improvement from the dowdy, seemingly pornographic camera work of the first film. But for every meandering bunch of minutes that is not spent on something to develop story or character, the potential for a truly subtle bone-chilling spectacle is squandered.

Whether you should watch Paranormal Activity 2 depends on how much you value your time and how easily you are scared. Regardless, revisiting a classic would prove more rewarding than sitting through this film.