Scary? Nah!

CAST: Katie Featherston,Micah Sloat,Molly Ephraim

rating: ***

Built as “a parallel sequel” to the previous Paranormal Activity,this film features a period of 60 days prior to it,explaining what led up to the demons and murders.

Apart from the creaking doors,the falling pots and pans,and things moving around on their own,what stands out in Paranormal Activity 2 is the remarkably normal family all of this happens to. Daniel,his wife and his newborn son,along with his daughter from a previous marriage,share a home and a relationship that seems to be genuinely born of love. The daughter,who is in her teens,isn’t rebellious or extra cheerful.

Paranormal Activity 2 spends a lot of time establishing this,before the weird stuff starts happening. Shown from the point of view of the CCTVs that Daniel installs in their house after a break-in and the video recordings they make of a fast-growing son,the film banks more on the promise of its title than actual scares or blood and gore to get the goose bumps up.

While the baby is the centre of the story,the movie doesn’t even try to milk that to its advantage.

It may not be the scariest film of all time,no. But it is far from being among the worst.