You want to see Paranormal Activity 2 in a movie theater if you see it at all. The PA2 scare factor only really works in a theater surrounded by people screaming. And they will scream at things going bump in the night.
The concept basically apes the first Paranormal Activity. We witness strange goings on in a middle class house through video and close-circuit cameras. Many times the camera is static and nothing is going on and then all the doors and cabinets in a room fly open, and everyone around you screams. It’s a type of interactive cinema.
The majority of the people in the crowd I saw PA2 with would probably never be caught dead (or possessed by demons) in an actual art film but in certain ways this horror film is like indie cinema. The original was certainly a low-budget affair. The actors are all unknowns. The movie tries to make it look like it really happened a la Blair Witch. The plot revolves around a gimmick, in this case a repeated view of the same few rooms (and outside pool) as seen by a security system, with occasional silent parts where we stare in silence at, say, a baby crib or pans hanging in a kitchen. We just wait for something to happen, and when it does the moment sends shivers down your spine because the audience swallows the bait hook, line and sinker.
– Michael Bergeron
