3 November 2010

OHHH SHIT!

Paranormal Activity 2 – Tod Williams

Having just seen this film mere minutes before i start this review, i must reveal that i’m still shell shocked from its effects and also the effects of the multitude of rum and cokes i have before the screening. Yes dear reader your reviewer is slightly drunk whilst reviewing this film, don’t worry, my judgement isn’t impaired nor is my spelling because of the wonderful Microsoft Word. This is the first time I’ll be doing this review under the influence and i hope it pays off. So Paranormal Activity 2, a sequel to the hugely successful Paranormal Activity which saw a small budgeted film make its way into cinemas and prove a hit with audiences worldwide due to its unusual style of using hidden cameras and strange pacing that kept the audiences hooked. Sure it wasn’t exciting for most of the film where only the last ten minutes scared the shit out of people, but it worked. The realness aspect of it really had an affect over people which saw many scream and shout out loud, which rarely happens for horror films nowadays. So the second instalment was green lit even before the release on DVD because the huge success, and using the characteristics of the first film and building upon it, here we are with Tod Williams attempt at grabbing the same audience and shaking them furiously again. And to put it bluntly, he fucking does it.

Not much is known about the plot, but i will reveal as much as i can, this is a prequel to the events of the first film and follows a family in a home which begins to get haunted by a spirit. The family has a newly born boy as they try to live with fear growing in their house. After a major mess happens in their house whilst away, the family install cameras in all of the rooms to see what might happen. What they find is not burglars but strange goings on. Doors opening and closing, pots falling onto the floor, strange voice, foreboding shadows, it has it all. But i must warn you, three sequences in particular even had me shouting out loud at how scary it is, one involving the kitchen, and two at the end involving a certain someone. I won’t reveal too much, but i’m sure you’ll enjoy the plot twists and turns it throws at you along the way.

A thrilling horror film for the modern age where over use of gore doesn’t scare, but realistic noises, visuals and the feeling that this could happen to any regular person and Paranormal Activity 2 pounces on those nights of hearing something downstairs, or having door open and close by themselves and defiantly makes you think of every occasion where you thought someone was behind you but really wasn’t. I highly recommend.

8/10

Simon Childs

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