I'm glad I saw it during the day this time, because once again, I walked out of that theater trembling I was so anxious.
Having already had a scary experience with the first movie last October, I decided to brave it once again, and see the sequel. Now, since about 10 years old, I haven't had to sleep with a night light, being able to fall asleep in complete darkness with ease. However, that changed after I saw "Paranormal Activity" last year. I have slept with a night light ever since, and not afraid to admit it.
It scared me for the same reason that the sequel did: I'm a believer. Not everyone believes in ghosts, or especially in evil spirits or demons. I do. With these films, there is no stretch of the imagination, or suspension of belief. I do believe. I know that this has happened before, and is happening now, and could (Dear God I hope not...) happen to me. That's why these films terrify me. So why do I go see them? Honestly, I love the experience of a movie that actually succeeds in scaring me, because it never happens. Not even 1 in 100 horror films actually succeed in that. These are the only two films that have ever kept me up at night. Anyway...on to the movie.
The sequel in fact takes place, 2 months before the beginning of the first film, which confused me until the end. Kristy and Daniel are raising 2 children, teenager Ali and one year old Hunter. After a strange break in, Daniel decides to install cameras in the house, not expecting them to show astonishing evidence of the paranormal. Kristy is in fact, the sister of Katy from the first film, who pops in for visits many times throughout the film with Micah, her boyfriend. Every night, the activity escalates, until one night, Ali is at home by herself with Hunter, and it tricked into answering the front door and is locked out of the house, with Hunter still inside. That's when things start getting a little crazy.
Kristy and Daniel just want to ignore it, but the teenage daughter refuses. After a little research, she finds out that Hunter is the first son born into Kristy and Katy's family since the early 1900's, and ponders the possibility of an ancestor making a deal with a demon that required a son as payment. Sounds ridiculous right? Not in the outcome of the story. After the spirit purposefully injuries the family dog to get Kristy on her own, it is able to pull Kristy down to the basement and possess her. It's the following night when all the madness happens. Kristy is just standing over Hunter's crib, watching him, much like how Katy was in the first film. She attacks Ali, who is convinced that the spirit has possessed her and reviews the footage from last night to prove it. After watching the spirit drag Kristy into the basement, terrified, she calls her dad and has him watch it. With the help of their former housemaid who was fired a few weeks before, he is able to exercise the spirit from Kristy.
The film fast forwards three weeks later, at which we realize that Kristy and Daniel have decided to completely ignore past events, even after Katy admits that something strange is now going on at their house. This is in fact the time period that the first movie begins. Once again, it fast forwards to October 9th, the night after Micah is killed. In a well shot and scary sequence, a possessed Katy enters the house, kills Daniel and Kristy, and leaves with Hunter. Ali returns home from a trip 2 days later to find them dead, and Katy and Hunter still missing.
It wasn't nearly as surprising as the first film, because we already knew the habits of this demon that is haunting this family. But, more happens. There are more jumping and gasping moments in the sequel than the first. I think perhaps that this film scared me more than the first simply because of one of the paranormal events that does happen, seeing as it is very similar to a paranormal experience of my own, just not nearly as violent. I grew up and lived beside a haunted house for 20 years. While in the house one day, I walked into the kitchen after thinking someone was in there, and opened the swinging door to find almost every cupboard and drawer open. But no one was in there previously. The scene in the film, where Kristy is sitting in the kitchen and all the cupboards and drawers burst out violently scared the hell outta me. It connected with me personally, and I was trembling through the rest of the film.
I believe the fact that this story also involves the vulnerability of a child makes it resonate a bit more and makes it just that more terrifying than the first. Overall, a very well made horror film, and is a step above the first, with it's own compelling and surprising storyline. It was enough to keep me curled up in my "horror movie position", huddled up in my theater seat, with my knees pulled up to my chest and hood over my head the whole time.
If you love a good, scary ghost story, I recommend "Paranormal Activity 2".
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