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60Unlike the original, Paranormal Activity 2's pacing is uneven; it builds slowly and effectively before rushing too quickly, and at one point not particularly coherently, through the climax. But the jolts, when they come, are bigger, causing actual physical thrills and chills, at least for me.
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60Even knowing what's likely to come-the doors opening on their own, the skeptical characters scoffing at metaphysical explanations, the unheeded warnings from paranormally gifted guests-doesn't make it any less nailbiting to watch.
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50Paranormal Activity 2 suffers from the excessive expository blah-blah that's so common in horror-movie sequels.
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50The clumsy and obvious byproduct of the financial success of its predecessor last Halloween, this movie has no reason for existing except to provide Paramount Pictures with a few extra shekels.
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60Serves as both a sequel and a prequel, and the team Oren Peli has assembled deserves credit for beefing up and rounding out his original narrative without letting it mutate into something unrecognizable.
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63And again things go bump and eventually yarrrragghhh in the night.
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50Frozen camera setups and blurry night-vision images raise goose bumps without the assistance of eerie music or showy effects, though the strain of stretching the gimmick to a second movie is palpable.
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50Where "The Last Exorcism" was sustained by artfully balanced skepticism and a feel for character, Paranormal 2, putatively directed by Tod Williams, can only hold an audience with the understood promise of big jolts around the corner.
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63If you're looking for wicked fun this Halloween, Paranormal Activity 2 is the best goosebump game in town.
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50Anyone who has seen the original knows exactly where things are heading, with the result that the proceedings seem far more manipulative than unnerving.
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70More of the same, for all the good and acceptably routine that that implies.
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40The impression is less of calculated ineptitude than of seasoned professionals (director Tod Williams made The Door in the Floor) playing dumb, as a checklist of household items-frying pans, endlessly shutting doors, a pool cleaner with a mind of its own-test viewers' reflexes.
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75Demons of mediocrity, be gone! Here we have a shrewd sequel a touch better than the original.
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75What was scary once is scary twice, like a carnival funhouse remodeled with a few new mirrors and spring-loaded spooks.
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20Paranormal Activity 2 sinks much lower than it needs to in order to get a rush out of us - and in the end, the rush isn't even that great. The movie puts us through the paces with minimal payoff.
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80It delivers its considerable moments of terror in the same way the original film did. But it does deliver.
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50Picture fares like most horror follow-ups, offering more of the same to somewhat diminished effect.
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38An efficient delivery system for Gotcha! Moments, of which it has about 19. Audiences who want to be Gotchaed will enjoy it.
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50The principle suspense is wondering when the suspense is going to start, as you scan the darkly-lit screen looking for any hint of imminent horror.
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50A confident, cocky and often comic promenade down the same primrose path.
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75Rarely is the second film in a horror franchise more frightening than the original, but Paranormal Activity 2 has more innocent victims and more scares than its predecessor.
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60Without giving anything away, much of the excruciatingly teased-out tension here echoes the first movie without upping the ante.
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83Even when nothing is happening, the often dead-silent shots tend to grow scarier the more you look at them.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 46 out of 83
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Mixed: 14 out of 83
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Negative: 23 out of 83
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2This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.
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