Paranormal Activity 2 - Spoiler Thread

[mono]

There's no thread for this, so figured I'd just spark up the spoiler discussion. I just got back from seeing an 8:45PM EST showing. All you west-coasters steer clear for the moment...







SPOILERS




Although the film focuses on here sister's family, Katie's back! Both pre & post-possession. I wasn't certain of how they'd handle PA2, and I have to say I like the construction of the narrative, taking place before the events of the 1st film, and then picking up where it left off.

Superhuman demon-Katie at the end fell a bit flat for me. The movie also suffered simply from the repetition of the same cycle we endured in the original: oppressive night sequences w/ escalating terror. I want to say it was a disappointment, but despite myself, I still got sucked in and enjoyed the hell out of it.

[jason]

Actually saw a free screening of it Thursday... because of how much I enjoyed the first one not knowing a damn thing about it, I purposely avoided all news, reviews and trailers for the second one. Going in with no expectations other than "It's a sequel and I liked the first one" was great.

I loved how they handled the film as both a prequel and sequel. I liked how that allowed them to give a bit of possible back story on the demon and add a twist to the original film without breaking their mythology.

[snowcrash22]

That was some high quality dog acting!

While the cycles did feel a little stretched out while the teen went through the research, when everything popped it was still scary.

I liked that solution wasn't stand and fight but rather pass it on up the chain.

So what was deal the the devil? Was it actually done by Kristy or the mother? They both ended up with relatively wealthy men and we never heard about the sister's Dad having money.

Did Daniel have to sneak into Mica and Katie's house to plant the picture they found in the first movie or did it just appear?

Well done. Very satisfying.

[gameoverman]

My understanding is back in the 30s their great grandparent(or a similar distant generation) made the bargain. That's why the family has only had girls till now, to make sure the debt doesn't get paid. I take it that means the word was not passed down to Katie or her sister for some reason. Maybe over time their parent/s grew to not believe the old family tales or something.

I think the husband would be the one to sneak the picture to their house. He says "I'll do it" to his daughter at one point, that could have more meaning than just 'tag her with the cross'.

I liked the movie, in terms of creating a PA mythology. I liked seeing that Jericho actress. I liked the character of the daughter.

Too much of this movie falls flat due to dumb character moves. In the first movie I can understand why. They are told after all by the psychic what the 'rules' are. Running away won't help, etc. In this movie, when she's locked out of the house, why doesn't the daughter simply go to a neighbor's house and call the cops? When the pan falls by itself the first time, why doesn't the wife immediately have the husband watch the recording? It's like everyone forgot there's this elaborate surveillance system in operation, until something else happens that makes watching the previous recording useless.

And it doesn't help that originality of approach, PA's main claim to fame, is destroyed by having the key part of the ending be a ripoff of REC/Quarantine.

And I'm not complaining but did anyone else notice the abundance of cleavage? In the first one, as the movie progresses Katie's awesome rack becomes more noticeable, sure. In this movie it's Paranormal Activity 2: Electric Boobaloo. In the pool scene, I could swear Katie was smirking at the camera, like she knew at that moment she made everyone in the audience forget what this movie was supposed to be about.

[Moggraider]

And I'm not complaining but did anyone else notice the abundance of cleavage? In the first one, as the movie progresses Katie's awesome rack becomes more noticeable, sure. In this movie it's Paranormal Activity 2: Electric Boobaloo. In the pool scene, I could swear Katie was smirking at the camera, like she knew at that moment she made everyone in the audience forget what this movie was supposed to be about.

Seems intentional and gratuitous, especially with regard to the underaged Ali. Did it make up for the retread? No.

[gameoverman]

Yeah, I like cleavage as much as the next guy but it was distracting. Not to mention I felt a little offended, like the PA2 director was sending a message that this is all it'll take to win the audience(ie me) over. I'm easy, but not that easy.

[Pogue Mahone]

I haven't seen this one, but I did just see the trailer on TV so I have to ask you guys: does it spoil the end of the movie like the trailer for the first film did?

[MSUSteve]

I saw this over the weekend and loved it. It was great that they didn't just pay lip service to the first movie, but instead tied it in directly to those events. PA2 is a very worthy sequel. It did recycle a lot of the scares, but to great effect. They certainly nailed the tension build up that the first movie did so well. I liked that the surveillance cameras were set a little higher up and offered good views of each room. I was constantly scanning around for changes and movement and while nothing usually happened, it was good for ratcheting up that tension.

I really liked the quickness and abruptness of Katie's appearance at the end and subsequent killing of the husband and wife. I also appreciated that, at least in the case of the husband, they deserved what they got. It reminded a little of The Ring and the quandary that mother in that movie was faced with to protect her son.

I have no idea how they're going to make a PA3, but it certainly seemed like they were leaving that possibility open.

[Bill Dungsroman]

I haven't seen this one, but I did just see the trailer on TV so I have to ask you guys: does it spoil the end of the movie like the trailer for the first film did?

Sort of but not really!