‘Paranormal Activity 2’ is the second horror film I’ve seen in recent weeks that I’ve actually enjoyed, after ‘The Human Centipede‘. However, the two films are completely different, and I like them for different reasons. And also, ‘The Human Centipede’ is a much better film, and I appreciate it much more than I do ‘Paranormal Activity 2.’

When the first ‘Paranormal Activity‘ film was released last year, it too the world by storm. Many, many people were scared by the film, and they loved it! People I know personally have even said the film was one of the scariest horror films ever, and I trusted their opinions. However, after I finally got to see it, I was disappointed. I wasn’t scared at all. There were creepy moments, but never frightening or scary. The film was slow in plot development and the scares just weren’t scary. However, I loved the newcomer-director Oren Peli’s clever scare tactics and originality, and ‘Paranormal Activity’ was still a lot better than the crappy, Hollywood-made horror films. This, added with the great chemistry between the film’s two leads, is what influenced me to rate the film a slightly better-than-average score of 2.5 out of 4 stars.

This time around, the same basic formula is used, and ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ is almost the same as the first film, though slightly more Hollywood with its bigger budget ($3 million compared to the original’s $15 thousand). So if you liked the first film, you’ll like the sequel.

I know I always criticize Hollywood-made horror films, but in a twist of fate I ended up liking ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ slightly more than the original because of its slightly more Hollywood influence. The film doesn’t have the slow, but clever and taunting scares of the first film. In the sequel, the scares are more in-your-face and pop-out moments. Usually I’d criticize the use of pop-out moments in horror films, but I appreciate it in this film. Again, I still was never “scared” during ‘Paranormal Activity 2’, but I was shocked and caught off-guard during a few moments. Because of the shock factor and pop-out moments, I enjoyed the film. Those moments kept me entertained. Though I saw the film because I wanted to be scared out of my mind, and though it didn’t give me what I wanted, it entertained me because of its crazily, unpredictable pop-out moments.

Other things that make the sequel more Hollywood is the added dog factor, baby factor, ethnic character factor, skeptic character factor, and so on, and so on. Everyone knows about the myths that dogs and babies can see ghosts and whatnot, so in the film the dog and baby Hunter consistently see and interact with the ‘spirit’ or ‘demon.’ The film includes an ethnic character in the form of Martine (Vivis Cortez), the housekeeper and nanny. Though this factor is pretty stereotypical, it worked in this film. The father in the film, Dan (Brian Boland), is the skeptic character within the film. Having a skeptical character in a horror film always causes tension within horror films, and Dan’s skepticism regarding the paranormal activity within the household causes conflict with the other characters, and that is what also makes the film slightly more entertaining than the first film. In the first ‘Paranormal Activity’, the two leads both pretty much believed in spirits/ghosts/demons, so the skeptic factor wasn’t there.

Speaking of the two main characters from the first film, Katie and Micah (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat), they both return in the sequel since its a prequel to the first. Their appearances in the sequel is another thing that made the sequel entertaining. I loved the characters from the first, so seeing them again is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good because it’s fun to the great characters from the original, and they’re kind of more entertaining than the characters in the sequel. Micah was funny in the original, so having him again was a charm. The return of Micah and Katie is bad, though, because it’s depressing to know what awaits their fates since we already know what happens to the both of them from the original film.

Overall, the sequel is pretty much the same as the first film, just with a larger cast, a bigger budget, more entertaining, but cheaper scares, and a faster-paced plot. The ending to the sequel is much better and crazy than the one to the original. Yeah, I know the original ‘Paranormal Activity’ has three different endings, depending on which theater you went to, or if you saw it online, etc. But the ending I saw had (spoiler alert) Katie attack the camera directly after throwing Micah at the camera. That ending was dumb, and didn’t fit with the feel of the entire film. I’ve read that that ending wasn’t the original, and that when the rights to the film were acquired by Paramount, it was changed. I bet Oren Peli’s original ending was a lot better.

Things to note: Props to the casting director for casting Sprague Grayden as the main character in the film and as Katie’s sister. Grayden did a fine job, and I found that Grayden and Katie Fenderson looked kind of alike during ‘Paranormal Activity 2’, so it made me like the film more by having the sisters actually look like sisters. Also, Molly Ephraim, who plays the daughter in this film, did a great job at acting and keeping the film entertaining.

Three out of four Kents.

PS: The effectiveness of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ films varies among everyone. After seeing the first film, my older sister was scared as shit and paranoid all night. After seeing the second film, she wasn’t scared, and she liked the first one a lot better. However, during the second film, one of my sister’s friends (we saw the film together as a group) left the theater like halfway through the film because of how scary it was to her! And other people in the audience frequently screamed in terror and whatnot during ‘Paranormal Activity 2’.

PSS: Remember, in my review of ‘Paranormal Activity 2’, I’m not saying that it’s a scary film. It was just entertaining enough for me to enjoy and give it a decent 3-star rating.