Movies
Paranormal Activity 2
“Paranormal Activity 2 is completely true to its roots, establishing itself as a competent, cohesive and coherent addition to the franchise that not only lives up to the hype, but also builds upon the original’s mythology…It’s literally is the sexy twin sister of Paranormal Activity; they look slightly different, have a few variant birthmarks, and carry their own personalities – but neither one is better than the other.”
The one thing special about the ongoing Saw franchise is that every year a new sequel arrives in theaters, and you know exactly what to expect from it. Good or bad, it is what it is and there’s no denying that it’s a Saw sequel. With that franchise (supposedly) coming to an end, Paramount Pictures is ramping up their newfound series: Paranormal Activity. The biggest fear with the sequel, arriving in theaters October 22, is that the studio would pull a “Blair Witch 2” by taking the low budget fare and throwing millions of dollars at it. Fret not; Paranormal Activity 2 is completely true to its roots, establishing itself as a competent, cohesive and coherent addition to the franchise that not only lives up to the hype, but also builds upon the original’s mythology.
With that said, it should be pretty evident that Paranormal Activity 2 will solely be enjoyed by the fans of the first, and that haters shouldn’t touch this with a 10, 50, wait no, a 100 foot pole. In fact, if you hated the first film, and still feel the need to see the sequel, if I catch you bitching here on the site I might have to pull a Jay and Silent Bob on your ass (totally kidding of course).
Brutality aside, fans of Paranormal Activity are in for a treat. The sequel, while not better than, might be just as good as Oren Peli’s indie smash hit of 2009. This time around Tod Williams takes the helm and tells the story of a new family terrorized by a demon. Here’s the small bit of info I’ll share with you: The film is a quasi-prequel, the family is in fact related to Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat), and the baby’s name is Hunter. It will tie directly into the first film creating one hell of a creepy 3 hours; it’s a companion piece.
Penned by Michael R. Perry, Paranormal Activity 2 stays true to the first film’s mythology created by Peli. The demon’s arrival and actions are consistent with the first, which may or may not hinder your “shock” experience. Those familiar with PA will feel almost at home waiting for creeks, booms and giant pops. PA 2 is a (fun) endurance test as it asks audience to shut the f*ck up, turn off their cell phones, and wait patiently for an attack. Williams brilliantly holds for long seconds on shots of nothing that are all enhanced by a brooding rumble in the score, or quite simply, complete silence. The audience may be treated by a jolt, but at times they’re left watching a smooth transition into the next morning. The trick pulled is that once again the audience is left on edge, given barely any time to breathe. In fact, the PA team once again bring the demon into daylight giving the audience no time to relax. It’s a tense experience from the first to the very last frame that should be leaving you in complete silence.
The biggest disappointment for me was that it wasn’t a superior film. I expected things to escalate to a higher degree, like any sequel would, but I can’t help but commend the production team for doing only what was necessary to make the sequel work. Paranormal Activity 2 literally is the sexy twin sister of Paranormal Activity; they look slightly different, have a few variant birthmarks, and carry their own personalities – but neither one is better than the other. In fact, they’re tonally so similar that when the film ended I joked about republishing my initial review for the sequel.
It’s tough writing a review for a film without giving anything away, but truly all that is needed is a sentence that reads: “If you enjoyed Paranormal Activity you will enjoy its sequel just as much.” And to further my point, this is once again a movie that is best served IN A THEATER; the sound design and black surroundings enhance the experience. I had such a good time that if this is the beginning of a new decade of Paranormal sequels, I welcome it with open arms.
There’s been a lot of talk about how Christopher Nolan snuck in some horror elements into his epic adaptation of The Odyssey. However, even before the Cyclops began to eat Ithican soldiers and Circe subjected them to magical body-horror, cinemagoers were already witnessing supernatural terror through a certain trailer that was attached to most IMAX screenings of Nolan’s film.
It turns out that this trailer was for Rob Savage’s Other Mommy, an adaptation of Bird Box author Josh Malerman’s horror novel, Incidents Around the House. With the teaser now available online and revealing that the award-winning Jessica Chastain is playing the titular antagonist (as well as her ill-fated human counterpart), not to mention the fact that the picture is being helmed by the director of hits like Host and The Boogeyman, genre fans are understandably hyped for this upcoming thriller.
That’s why I’ve decided to take a closer look at the trailer and share four things we learned from this sneak peek at Other Mommy!
4. Rob Savage is Going Back to His Supernatural Horror Roots
I know I’m in the minority when I admit that Dashcam is my favorite Rob Savage movie, but even I understand why the filmmakers’ fans have been waiting a while for the director to get back to telling more grounded paranormal stories as he did with 2020’s Host.
Other Mommy obviously isn’t a found footage movie, but moments like the poltergeist activity on the kitchen table combined with the nature of the source material, which actually features a full-on exorcism, indicate that this adaptation is more than a simple creature feature. That’s why I think Savage is once again going to borrow from the same ghostly narratives that made his debut film such a viral hit.
3. Other Mommy is a More Convincing Doppelganger in the Adaptation
Part of the horror from Malerman’s original novel came from the fact that the entity taking on the form of Bela’s (Arabella Olivia Clark) mother wasn’t very good at passing itself off as human. This resulted in several uncanny moments where other characters began to notice that there was something visibly wrong with the family and decided to keep their distance.
Savage’s film appears to be taking a different route, with the trailer showing a version of the entity that can, at least physically, imitate Chastain’s character perfectly. This change is likely the result of the filmmakers wanting to incorporate more paranoid scenes where Bela and her father, played by Jay Duplass, are confused about which Mommy is safe to interact with.
2. The Family is Also Better Off This Time Around
Incidents Around the House featured some interesting subtext about how poverty can negatively affect American family dynamics. After all, the main characters were already feeling scared and isolated before the entity emerged from Bela’s closet and began scratching at their emotional wounds. The trailer for the movie, however, depicts the family as being relatively well off before these incidents begin to occur.
I can only imagine that this part of the story was changed so that the family’s fall from grace can be even more dramatic as the mom and dad’s pasts are revealed and Bela falls further into the clutches of the demonic antagonist.
1. Jessica Chastain is Embodying Evil Dead Rise’s Alyssa Sutherland
Mothers turning against their children is one of the most disturbing horror tropes out there (just check out classics like Hereditary and Carrie if you need proof), but it takes a remarkably skilled actress to pull off such a monstrous transformation. This is especially true when both a regular, loving mother and the Other share the screen in the same film.
That’s why I appreciate how Chastain appears to be channeling another evil redhead mother that recently traumatized audiences with her performance. It’s too early to be sure, but I’m fairly confident that Chastain’s character has at least some amount of Ellie in her cinematic DNA – Ellie being the iconic deadite brought to life by Australian actress Alyssa Sutherland in 2023’s Evil Dead Rise.
Let us know in the comments if you think we missed any important details from the trailer, and don’t forget to check out Other Mommy when it hits theaters on October 9!
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