The sequel creates a bigger universe of found footage scares and demonic activity. 

• Scare factor: ★★★★☆
• Demon factor: ★★★☆☆
• Entertainment factor: ★★★★☆
• How shaky is the camera? not that shaky mostly not at all

Paranormal Activity 2 is a sequel that is actually a prequel to the first film. It shows more of the families involved in the first film and adds some more scares with a new kind of found footage added. It stars Molly Ephraim, Sprague Grayden, Brain Boland, Seth Ginsberg, Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat. Directed by Tod Williams. Written by Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon, Tom Pabst. 

Duration 1h 31m

Plot

We follow the family of Katie’s sister Kristi before the events of what happened in Katie’s and Micah’s house. Kristi is married to Daniel, who already has a teenage daughter Ali. Kristi and Daniel together just had a son Hunter. After a strange break-in, where the whole house was turned upside down, except for Hunter’s room, Daniel decides to install camera’s in the whole house, that shows the hallway, Hunter’s room, the kitchen, the living room and the swimming pool. 

Their housekeeper Martine is superstitious and wants to cleanse the house, but Daniel doesn’t want anything to do with that and fires her. But then the strange phenomena start to increase. Pans drop from the ceiling, Ali is shut out of the house while babysitting Hunter and even more disturbing things start to happen. That makes Daniel decide to ask the help of Martine with dire consequences that set in motion the events of the first film. 

Continue reading below this announcement.

Short review

Aside from the surveillance camera’s, Ali is also filming everything. So we get a full picture of what is happening, and where. The fixed cameras deliver some creepy shots, mainly because you are anticipating something creepy to happen. Although during most of the film nothing really scary happens, this film also relies on suspense and the tension between the family members and how they are getting more scared each day. Expecting anything anytime, when not a lot happens, gets you very tensed and when something does happen it will give you an eerie feeling. 

We also get to know more about Katie and Kristi’s childhood. Katie reveals that Kristi had nightmares and was a troubled kid. While the first film focused on the happenings and Katie and Micah, now the universe of Katie’s family and background gets expanded. The haunting in Katie’s house is not a coincidence, there is a whole backstory behind it. And a piece of that backstory is revealed this film, but if you want to know why all this is happening then you must watch Paranormal Activity 3 (2011). 

Ali is the main character who just knows something is terribly wrong. She discusses this with her father but until the very end he remains sceptic and thinks Ali and Kristi are exaggerating things. The only one who believes her is her boyfriend Brad. While Kristi is also scared, there’s also something wrong with her. Ali and Brad do find out that if you ever made a pact with a demon for wealth and power, the demon claims the firstborn son in the family. Hunter is that first born son. 

Slowly the first film intertwines with its sequel. Katie and Micah visit them and they even babysit Hunter. And after Daniel thinks he has fixed things, the hauntings at Katie’s begins and she borrows Daniel’s camera for Micah to film the strange phenomena. This sequel also reveals why the events at the first film took place and that it is very unjust and wrong, but also understandable. Still Daniel didn’t know what he had set in motion and what it would cost his own family. 

The events at Kristi’s house took place from August 7 2006 until August 25 2006. While the events at Katie’s house took place from September 18 2006 until October 9 2006. 

This sequel is a great background story for the original film, but at the same time expands the story about the happenings. The connection with the original film is tight and consistent and together they form a great scary occult story about a demon who comes to get what it was promised. 

SPOLIERS:

What’s great about this film is that it not only scares us, but that it is intertwined and highly connected with the first film. We see Katie appear at Kristi’s house, she even babysits Hunter with Micah. But that was all before things started to get weird at Katie’s house. They first started at Kristi’s. While Katie tells the medium in the first film that she was haunted when she was eight, she reminds Kristi how she had nightmares and that Katie had to comfort her. So it probably wasn’t Katie who was haunted, but only suffered the side effects of the hauntings that were directed at Kristi. Now the haunting started at Kristi’s. When she was possessed, Daniel with the help of Martine expels the demon out of Kristi and burns Katie’s picture, the picture Micah found in their attic, to make the demon latch on to Katie. That was August 25, 2006. Weeks before the hauntings started at Katie’s. If it wasn’t for Daniel, Kristi would have been possessed and would have taken Hunter instead of Katie. Micah was killed by Katie on October 8 and his body was found on October 11. And October 9 Katie came to Kristi’s house, killed Kristi and Daniel and took Hunter with her. In the third installment we get to learn more about Katie’s and Kristi’s childhood and why this is all happening now. Ali was close to the truth. But the actual truth is far more sinister. In the fourth film Katie and Hunter will appear again. 

Read more about the Paranormal Activity franchise:

• Paranormal Activity (2007) review
• Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) review + explained
• Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) review + explained
• Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) review + explained
• Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) review + explained