PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2. (2010) DIRECTED BY TOD WILLIAMS. STARRING KATIE FEATHERSTON, MICAH SLOAT, SPRAGUE GRAYDEN, BRIAN BOLAND AND MOLLY EPHRAIM.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4. (2012) DIRECTED BY HENRY JOOST AND ARIEL SCHULMAN. STARRING KATHRYN NEWTON, MATT SHIVELY, STEPHEN DUNHAM, ALEXONDRA LEE, KATIE FEATHERSTON AND WITH FRANK WELKER FROM 'THE SIMPSONS' DOING SOUND EFFECTS.
I was lucky enough to pick up the extended cuts of these two films in my favourite movie shop recently, although it sounds more like I got 'em from the butcher's, doesn't it?
'What can I do for you today, Mrs. Harris? I've got some lovely choice cuts of found footage in this morning especially for my regulars, I can sell you a couple of extended cuts for a knock-down price, my dear, oh, anything for you, my lovely!'
Anything for a flippin' sale, more like.
Anyway, the extended versions are a good ten or more minutes longer than the theatrical versions, or what you would have seen in the cinema, so to me they felt like good value for money. Plus, they were bloody scary as well, which is the main thing.
I loved the first PARANORMAL ACTIVITY film, in which a young couple called Katie and Micah move into a lovely posh new apartment, only to find that it's haunted to buggery by a demon who may have latched onto Katie when she was little. I don't want to be accused of dishing out spoilers but this whole thing does not end well. That's important to remember from the point of view of the sequels.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 I haven't seen at all so, for the purposes of this review, we'll pretend it doesn't exist, heh-heh-heh. Bet it was pants anyway. Ah, I'm only joking. I'm sure it was every bit as good as its predecessors and sequels and I'm genuinely looking forward to finding it.
Anyway, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 and 4 are both excellent horror films. Dare I say that they're both actually better than the original movie? The film-makers have upped their game considerably and created two genuinely scary horror flicks that each take their time to get to the point, but the pay-off is so worth it in both cases.
In PA 2, we have a kind of prequel to the original story. Katie's sister Kristi has just had a baby son, Hunter, with her big, bearded All-American husband Daniel, who also has a teenage daughter, Ali, from his deceased first wife.
The close-knit little family, including their gorgeous Alsatian dog Abby, are thrilled to welcome Baby Hunter into their nest and, for a while, things are chaotic but happy. They're a likeable family, which helps. When the shit starts to hit the fan, you really feel like you can root for them.
A nasty break-in leads to the family acquiring CCTV in every room of their house, which is just as well as some mysterious stuff is happening to the little household. It's stuff that seems to all centre around Baby Hunter and his adorable little nursery, where Abby the dog stands guard every night, keeping a loving eye on the new addition to the family.
Who was it who said that you should never work with animals or children? That's not rhetorical, by the way. I really can't remember who it was. Anyway, he may not have been entirely right, whoever he was, because the cute little toddler and the dog are both the runaway stars of this satisfyingly creepy film.
They're just brilliant as they show us clearly once again that animals and small children
are more sensitive to the paranormal than adults, who are likely to be more sceptical. When the cat or dog in your house starts acting all freaked-out but you can't see anything wrong, it's usually because they sense a level of threat that their humans haven't cottoned on to yet. And if your toddler is deep in conversation with a chair in his/her bedroom that appears to have no visible occupant, then maybe it's time, people. Time to call in the Ghostbusters...
In PA 2, Dad in particular is extremely sceptical when his wife and teenage daughter are trying to tell him that there's a presence in the house that's not altogether benign. Maybe some CCTV footage of his wife being dragged down the stairs and into the basement by an unseen force will help to open his mind a little to the possibility of the unknown...
PA 4 is even scarier, in its own way. We have a new little family, with a Mom and Dad who are seemingly not very happy together, a cute-as-a-button teenage daughter, obviously chosen for her huge expressive eyes and blonde hair, and a darling little boy called Wyatt. Which is funny, because it had me thinking of cowboys all through the film. You know, Wyatt Earp, the famous sheriff from the days of the old Wild West? Yee-haw...!
Anyway, the family end up taking in the strange little boy from across the road whose Mom is supposed to be 'sick.' She's sick all right, but in ways you couldn't even imagine. I can't even tell you her name for fear of spoilers but, trust me, this is a good one, a really good one.
The little boy- Robbie is his name- has an odd influence over Wyatt, and before you can say 'demonic possession,' the pair of them are talking to people in the house who aren't there, seeing apparitions and gabbing together about 'joining' a bunch of unknown people somewhere unspecified.
O-kaaaaaaaaaaay. This is all extremely worrying behaviour, but Mom and Dad are too wrapped up in their own problems to see what's going on right under their noses. The teenage daughter Alex, played by a great little actress, is the only one bright enough to spot what's happening. Will she be able to stop it, though, before it's too late? The odds are stacked against her...
THE SIMPSONS expertly parodied PA 2 in one of their legendary TREEHOUSE OF HORROR episodes. Homer agrees to a sexy threesome with two male demons in order to prevent them from taking Baby Maggie. Their 'safe word' is 'cinnamon.' Before long, someone's crying 'Cinnamon! Cinnamon!' And I can tell you this much. It's not Homer...!
PA 4 reminded me of THE EXORCIST, THE SHINING, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and THE OMEN, and maybe a couple of other films as well. Both PA 4 and PA 2 are good 'n' scary and I was actually nervous going up to bed after watching them both back-to-back.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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