I liked Paranormal Activity, but I didn’t think it lived up to a lot of the hype that was built up around it. Don’t get me wrong, that’s more a failing on the behalf of the viewing public than it is of the movie; we wouldn’t have such ridiculous hype if we didn’t have such easily impressed people.

Surprisingly, the sequel to Paranormal Activity snuck up on me.  I hadn’t seen any previews, or read any sweaty nerd-testimonials talking about how this one guy knew another guy who had a grandma who had a seizure while watching it because it was, like, so scary – like, clinically scary, bro. I didn’t see any of that – maybe you did and I just missed it, I don’t know. Whatever the case, I think it was a good thing; I walked into this film without any preconceived ideas, and I think that’s the best state of mind to have while walking into the theater.

I’m still chewing up certain bits of Paranormal Activity 2 to see whether I like them. The plotting involved in intertwining the two films, and the major “twist” (no, I don’t feel like I’m spoiling anything by telling you that there is one) are good examples.

If the reaction of my fellow theatergoers was any indication, the movie was very, very good. People were shrieking and jumping, and there was a great deal of murmuring. One man behind me was spewing an impressive rainbow of profanity throughout the entire film, stopping only occasionally to breathe or tell the 5 year old he was with to be quiet. (What’s with young children always freaking out in horrifying movies anyway? Sure the movie is meant for adults and clearly marketed as such, and sure this is clearly a movie that a young child shouldn’t attend, and sure your guardian is clearly making poor decisions when planning how to spend a night out with you; but you’re kindergarten age now - grow a backbone, you dink.)

The main worry I had about a sequel to Paranormal Activity is the fact that the concept of the first film is really a one-trick pony. You have cameras, you have a ghost - what could be done to up the ante and effectively add a second part to the story?

As fate would have it, I (kind of) have an answer for that.

A couple of weeks back, I went to an author signing at Barnes and Noble in Duluth. The author (the talented Patrick Rothfuss) did a short reading and talked a bit about his creative process. During that talk, he mentioned some advice – not his, but from another author – regarding things you should never do in a story, because they could alienate or make the reader (or in my case, the viewer) uncomfortable. One of those things was putting a baby in danger.

One of the characters in Paranormal Activity 2, as you may have noticed in previews, is a baby, Hunter. Notice the comma. Not a baby-hunter, which would be a whole different movie, but a baby named Hunter.

You can’t help but get a little tense as the camera lingers on Hunter as if waiting for something to happen. As humans, our brains are wired to protect babies. It’s a dirty trick, but it works; I often found myself getting tense while he was on camera.

To add to that tension there are ever-present cat-jumping-out-of-a-closet scares that keep us constantly on-guard, like a sadistic older-brother making us flinch.  Normally I hate these scares, but in this case they aren’t cats – they’re ghosts. Does that make it better? I’m not sure yet, but I think it’s a little more permissible in this context – especially when considered with the fact that there are plenty of other, non-jump scares sprinkled throughout the movie.

Scares aside, the plot of the film has left me a little confused. Not that it’s a confusing plot, but I’m not sure whether I think it’s good or not.  The scares were there, but the storyline…I’m not sure. I want to say I liked it, but there’s nothing that makes me want to go back and watch it a second time, and that’s usually one of my hallmarks for a really good story. It did make me want to go back and re-watch the first Paranormal Activity, though – for whatever that’s worth. I’m being a very bad reviewer right now by allowing myself to indulge all this wishy-washiness, I realize. I’ll stop now.

If you’re looking for a recommendation, I give this movie my seal of approval. It’s a good, accessible horror movie, and it’s fun to watch in a dark theater full of people. If it had been released in March, I might not have that opinion – but this is October. Get out of the house, get in the spirit of Halloween, and go watch something scary.

Do it now, or this baby gets it.