Paranormal Activity 2

Fans, Critics Call 'Paranormal Activity' Scarier Than the First

by: Michael Krumboltz

'Paranormal Activity 2' Paramount Pictures "Paranormal Activity 2" hits theaters this weekend, and we can't help but compare it to another highly anticipated horror sequel: "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2".

Both franchises started with small-budget horror flicks that made a ton of money, thanks to creative marketing and genuinely scary stories. But while "Blair Witch 2" was so bad that it effectively killed the franchise (despite a much bigger budget), the reviews for "Paranormal Activity 2" are almost across-the-board positive.

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gives "PA2" a "B+" and writes that the film made him "jump, sweat, and chew (his) fingernails." If this were a romantic comedy, that would be bad. Fortunately, this flick, in which a demon haunts a family, is anything but funny.

Claudia Puig of USA Today gives "PA2" three out of four stars and writes that the sequel "has more innocent victims and more scares than its predecessor." The movie, she writes, delivers plenty of "spine-tingling jolts and scream-inducing moments."

A critic from CNN writes that there was at least one moment when "the entire theater jumped 3 inches into the air." According to MTV, fans who were treated to an early screening of the film called it "ten times scarier than the first one."

By the way, the first film cost around $15,000 to produce. The sequel? Around $3 million, according to Studio Briefing. It's worth noting that $3 million is still a tiny budget by Hollywood standards.

But there are doubters. Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gives the film just one and a half stars out of four, and cites the dialogue as a particularly weak point. "There are six speaking roles, not counting the non-speaking baby and the dog. Good odds, you'd think, that at least one of them would have something interesting to say, but no."

The AP was similarly unimpressed. The sequel is "better made and not quite as paper thin as the original, but by replicating the bare-bones B-film, the sequel sacrifices any chance for distinction." In other words, if you saw the original, you've seen the sequel.

But Ebert and a few others aside, most critics dig it. Fans of the original should walk into the sequel knowing the filmmakers didn't pull a "Blair Witch." For that, we're all grateful.

All Thanks to : www.yahoo.com