Movie Review: Paranormal Activity 2

Paranormal Activity 2

(R16), 90 mins, 4/5
You know a horror film has achieved its aim when it reaches the end and the person sitting a few rows in front of you shakily exclaims: "why the ... did we come to this film", "that was much worse than the first one", and "please be over".
This was exactly the scenario that played out after I sat through Paranormal Activity 2, but by that point, my nerves were so shredded, it's a wonder I even picked up what my poor tormented fellow cinema-goer was saying at all.
Much like its predecessor, and earlier films like the Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity 2 succeeds as an antithesis to the glossy, over-done, special-effects drenched horror film.
Yes, I'm looking at you Scream, Drag Me To Hell, and countless numbers of interchangeable zombie flicks.
Paranormal Activity 2 centres around young couple Kristi and Dan Rey, and the strange series of events that begin to occur soon after they bring their newborn son Hunter home from hospital.
After their house gets trashed in what the Reys presume to be a break-in, they set up a series of 24-hour surveillance cameras around the property, and it's from these cameras that much of the footage which makes up Paranormal Activity 2 is taken.
Paranormal Activity 2 is one of those rare horror films where suspense is built up through things left unseen, and long moments in which not a lot actually happens.
The constantly monitoring video cameras slowly survey the silent and darkened house at night, with the tension slowly being ramped up to almost unbearable levels through clever use of occasional explosions of noise and sudden, shocking activity.
Naturally, things escalate towards the end of the film, which finally arrives in another Blair Witch-esque blur of frantic handheld camera activity, and horrific scenes partly glimpsed, all set to a soundtrack of terrified screams and frenzied movement.
Those who saw the first Paranormal Activity may find this sequel a little too similar.
But for everyone else, Paranormal Activity 2 is a unique and genuinely frightening 90-minute experience.