Paranormal Activity, again

NOW PLAYING at East Towne Cinemas in Ellijay, GA

“Paranormal Activity 2”

“Paranormal Activity 2” was preceded by the most profitable film ever, “Paranormal Activity.”So, after Paramount/Dreamworks made so much money off solely the distribution of the original, why not capitalize on its success by producing another film, in-house?

Not a bad idea. It’s been done before with some critical success.

However, Paramount calls “Paranormal Activity 2” as a parallel prequel. When they say that I think what they mean to say in this case is an overdone Studio version of a successful independent film.

“Paranormal Activity 2” plays the same tricks on their audience, much like the first, though taking a much lazier route. There was no rhyme or reason why the characters are recording video throughout the entire film.

The fact that “Paranormal Activity” was presented in a “found footage” style was what made the original so intriguing. What the viewer was watching was reasoned because this couple was trying to catch poltergeist on tape.

It was brilliant and exciting, each night we were waiting for more and more to be revealed. Because this style made the film seem real.

But the parallel prequel’s justification for the camera use wasn’t near as intriguing. The characters were recording video for the sake of filming. The style and feel from the original was not emulated.

To the film’s credit, there is some unnerving suspense created. Yet, it was the same kind of cheap scare tactics made popular with the “Saw” series.

The filmmakers knew what they could get away with and they exploited it. Now and in the past, Hollywood has tried to garner success by copying the creative styles of popular independent films—the look, the feel.

But, Hollywood has shown to have a hard time creating the same effect—to maintain an intriguing and original story while copying a unique mode of filmmaking.

Plain and simple, the film has the exact same formula just with a different family and a weaker reasoning behind all the chaos. Its missing the one thing that made the first one great—style.