Movie Rec: Paranormal Activity 2
Suffice it to say, I am writing this from the safety of Panera.
I am such a sucker for a scary haunting movie! I liked Paranormal Activity I. It had a simplicity that lent it veracity while I watched. Of course you pick this sort of thing apart afterward, when your nerves are back under control, but at the moment, you are there, caught in all the dread and tension.
PA2 does not disappoint on either count. Yes, it hits a lot of cliches, but are they cliches because they fill out a mythic narrative? Ouija boards, old curses and the like are pretty hokey and didn't really help the plot, but inanimate objects suddenly moving on their own, doors slamming, threatened children, vigilant dogs, doubting spouses, and unseen things grabbing you and dragging you down three flights of stairs to the basement? Now that's the stuff of my nightmares. Literally. I used to dream of ghosts grabbing me all the time, and a lot of that went into the Tamir trilogy.
It also captured SoCal nicely-- rich pretty people with nice things, who can't believe that something so ugly has invaded their perfectly decorated space. The movie sets up the dynamics well: an older, widowed man with daughter from first marriage and younger wife and new baby boy. We see enough of them to like them, and care what happens to them. And we are warned from the outset with "director's notes" that people do die. You just wait to find out who, how, and when.
The movie is shot entirely from the perspectives of hand held video cameras and a home security system, which cycles endlessly through the same succession of shots. (one little fail; watch the coffee mug on the kitchen island. Either someone is very OCD with the placement, or they reused a shot a few times) In this way seemingly innocent things like a front walk or a pool skimmer take on a ominous air. (Especially when we see the skimmer crawl up out of the pool by itself.)
There are few gratuitous "fake boo" moments. When something finally does happen in those series of security shots, you jump because the tension has been so drawn out and built up. The special effects are the lowest tech, and far more effective than anything Industrial Light and Magic could throw at us.
You know a movie is good when afterwards you find yourself hesitating to walk down that dark hall for aspirin, or working at Panera the next day. ;-)
I am such a sucker for a scary haunting movie! I liked Paranormal Activity I. It had a simplicity that lent it veracity while I watched. Of course you pick this sort of thing apart afterward, when your nerves are back under control, but at the moment, you are there, caught in all the dread and tension.
PA2 does not disappoint on either count. Yes, it hits a lot of cliches, but are they cliches because they fill out a mythic narrative? Ouija boards, old curses and the like are pretty hokey and didn't really help the plot, but inanimate objects suddenly moving on their own, doors slamming, threatened children, vigilant dogs, doubting spouses, and unseen things grabbing you and dragging you down three flights of stairs to the basement? Now that's the stuff of my nightmares. Literally. I used to dream of ghosts grabbing me all the time, and a lot of that went into the Tamir trilogy.
It also captured SoCal nicely-- rich pretty people with nice things, who can't believe that something so ugly has invaded their perfectly decorated space. The movie sets up the dynamics well: an older, widowed man with daughter from first marriage and younger wife and new baby boy. We see enough of them to like them, and care what happens to them. And we are warned from the outset with "director's notes" that people do die. You just wait to find out who, how, and when.
The movie is shot entirely from the perspectives of hand held video cameras and a home security system, which cycles endlessly through the same succession of shots. (one little fail; watch the coffee mug on the kitchen island. Either someone is very OCD with the placement, or they reused a shot a few times) In this way seemingly innocent things like a front walk or a pool skimmer take on a ominous air. (Especially when we see the skimmer crawl up out of the pool by itself.)
There are few gratuitous "fake boo" moments. When something finally does happen in those series of security shots, you jump because the tension has been so drawn out and built up. The special effects are the lowest tech, and far more effective than anything Industrial Light and Magic could throw at us.
You know a movie is good when afterwards you find yourself hesitating to walk down that dark hall for aspirin, or working at Panera the next day. ;-)
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