Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

Horror Movie Club

Ashvin and Brian discuss the 2010 horror film Paranormal Activity 2 as part of their 'Sequel September' series. They analyze the film's role

Key takeaways

• The film functions as both a sequel and a prequel, bridging the gap between the first movie and later entries.
• The hosts found the characters difficult to connect with, noting that the stakes felt low despite the presence of a newborn baby.

Main topics

• Paranormal Activity 2 Review
• Found Footage Genre Trends

Notable quotes

two dudes who aren't quite nerds but not quite noobs

Conclusion

The hosts ultimately found the film underwhelming due to its aimless p

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:15) Hey there, listeners. Welcome to Horror Movie Club, the show where two dudes who aren't quite nerds but not quite noobs choose a horror movie each week to rate and review. I'm Ashvin. I'm on the phone with Brian. And this week, as part of Sequel September, Brian and I will be discussing the movie Paranormal Activity 2 from 2010, directed by Todd Williams, written by Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon, and Tom Pabst, and starring Sprig Graydon and Brian Boland. In this sequel... That is a bit of a prequel to part one. The sister of the woman in the first film is terrorized by a supernatural entity that is focused on stalking her family and making sure their swimming pool stays dirty. If you're new to our episode, we're going to have a spoiler-free discussion for the first 10 to 15 minutes. Then we'll take a quick break, and then we'll come back. We'll go through the plot, hit the spoilers, and get into our review. And this film, like all of our films, is brought to you thanks to the support of our Patreon members. If you want to join our Patreon, you can do so by signing up on our website, horrormovieclub.com. There's an orange button at the top, and if you click on that, for $3 a month, you get access to bonus episodes every month, access to our Discord server, and videos that Brian and I have done over the years. And you get to leave reviews for movies that we cover, and we read some of them at the end of each episode. So check that out and hang out towards the end so you can hear what other listeners thought about this movie. Brian, this was a first watch for me. How about you? Had you seen this one? Speaker 1 (1:46) I hadn't. I could have sworn that I had, but as soon as I started watching it, pretty shortly, I was like, yeah, I have not seen this one. I couldn't quite remember if I had, but assumed I must have. Because I had seen three, but no, I had never seen it. Yeah, me either. And it's Speaker 2 (2:04) really weird because I knew what this one was about and who's in it and kind of like the gist of what happens. But I don't know why I never got around to seeing it. And yeah, we've seen three, and I think I've seen either maybe four or five. I forget. One of those. But how many of the franchises have you seen besides this one in part three? Speaker 1 (2:24) The only one I have not seen is Next of Kin. Speaker 2 (2:29) Okay. Speaker 1 (2:29) So I've seen the first six. Speaker 2 (2:31) Yeah. Next of Kin is part six, right? I Speaker 1 (2:36) think Next of Kin is part seven. Oh, okay, okay. Gotcha. I'm pretty sure. Okay. Normally I have the whole franchise right in front of me, and this is the one time I forgot to do it. Oh, yeah. But I like this franchise. And, you know, it's weird because I skipped. I saw the first one in the theater, and I saw the third one in the theater. And then we did the first one on the podcast, and then we did the third one on the podcast. So, like, I've skipped the second movie twice, which is really strange. Yeah, Speaker 2 (3:08) I know. Yeah. It is really weird. I don't know how we missed these. I mean, this came out, like, three years after the first one, and it made a good amount of money, too. The first one, people always talk about the first one, like, just how profitable it was. I think it might hold the record for, like, the lowest budget to the highest earning, at least within horror movies. Yes. There's this, there's like Blair Witch, there's Obsession, but I think this is number one. Because the original one had a budget of like $15,000 and it made $194 million. I don't have those Speaker 1 (3:39) numbers in front of me, but yeah, it was something ridiculous like that. Speaker 2 (3:43) Yeah. This one, three years later, it's bump up the budget. They're at $3 million now. It still goes on to make $177.5 million. So earned pretty well. I think a lot of people went out and saw this, people that weren't Brian and I for some reason. We just kind of skipped this one. But yeah, it's up there. Made a good amount of money. Surprising, the director here, Todd Williams, he hasn't done a lot of other big stuff. But before he came on board, there was talk about Brian De Palma. directing this, who did like Carrie, Scarface, Mission Impossible. I couldn't see him doing like a found footage film like this. Could you? That's Speaker 1 (4:20) crazy to me. Yeah, I couldn't see that either. And another director considered was Akiva Goldsman, who did like Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. It was just hard to believe either of those people directing this movie. Yeah, Speaker 2 (4:33) yeah. Hard to imagine what that would look like. But yeah, Tata Williams, I feel like is relatively unknown or like not like that famous. I don't think. He's had too many big releases outside of this one. And I guess when they started filming this, the script wasn't even done. It was kind of a mess. It wasn't working very well. So they bring in Christopher Landon, and he goes on to do some great stuff, right? Like Happy Death Day. I think he did that movie you like a lot with Vince Vaughn. Freaky. Freaky, yeah. I was surprised to see his name on this. This doesn't seem like his type of movie. Speaker 1 (5:06) Yeah, and he directed the... I want to say he directed the fifth one in the franchise. Oh, Speaker 2 (5:13) yeah. Speaker 1 (5:13) I think you're Speaker 2 (5:14) right. Yeah, he directed The Marked Ones, which was my Speaker 1 (5:16) favorite one Speaker 2 (5:17) aside from the first one. Oh, no way. Okay. Yeah, it's weird. Speaker 1 (5:21) I feel like these movies are polarizing, and The Marked Ones, some people hate it, but every once in a while I stumble upon someone else who loved it too. But the franchise is the original in 2007, the second one in 2010, then Paranormal Activity 3 a year later in 2011. Paranormal Activity 4 a year later in 2012. Then the marked ones in 2014 was the fifth one. The Ghost Dimension, the sixth film, was in 2015. And next of kin, the seventh film was in 2021. And Paranormal Activity 8 is coming out, written and directed by Ian Tuison. And that one's going to be out, I think, in 2027. And Ian Tuison did Undertone. Oh, yeah. That should be interesting. Speaker 2 (6:07) Yeah, that'll be interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So I know the last week we talked about Insidious 6 and how that's like six movies stretched over like 16 years. This one, it seems like you got more kind of consistent flow of films coming out like one or two years apart from each other. Yeah. Speaker 1 (6:23) Yep. Speaker 2 (6:24) Yeah. But I agree with Speaker 1 (6:26) you. Speaker 2 (6:26) It's a fun franchise. And I mean, I think the first one captured magic in the bottle. And I thought the third one was really good. I got to check out marked ones. I don't think I've seen that. But, yeah, we should probably knock out more of these films over the course of the podcast. Speaker 1 (6:41) Yeah. Hey, and speaking of freaky, Catherine Newton was in the fourth one. Speaker 2 (6:44) Oh, yeah, right. Yeah, I forgot about that. Cool. Oren Peli is back, but he's a producer here. I think he's only directed two movies in his life, the first, Paranormal Activity, and then a movie called, like, Area 51. Speaker 1 (6:58) Yeah, man, Oren Peli is, like, you don't really hear his name. He's not necessarily a household name, but... He is a producer on so many of the biggest horror movies. That dude must be rich as hell just Speaker 2 (7:08) laying back, raking Speaker 1 (7:10) it in. I Speaker 2 (7:11) know, yeah. Yeah, it's a good gig he's got there. But yeah, as you mentioned, seven films have been out. There's an eighth one in the works. And the total franchise has earned about $891 million, not too far from the Insidious one with those six films, but nowhere near The Conjuring, which I think holds the record at $2.8 billion. The film has a 58 %... critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 48 % audience score. Interesting to see that the audience here is lower than the critics. And I assume both of those numbers are significantly lower than part one. Speaker 1 (7:45) It's funny because I feel like these movies, you have to be, I don't know, they're a little polarizing to me because you've got to be a found footage fan. And sometimes some of them just hit you and some of them don't. And if they don't, they really don't. And if they do, they really do. So it's weird. I've seen reviews all over the map for this one from both users and critics. Speaker 2 (8:09) Yeah, kind of polarizing. And like found footage, I mean, I feel like when we started this podcast, I was all about it. And yeah, just the momentum of found footage has kind of stalled. We're now on, what do you call it? Like live, not live stream, but what do you call that? Screen life. Screen life. Oh, yeah. We're getting some of that. Even that, though, I feel like has slowed down. Like we don't see much like found footage or screen life anymore, do we? Speaker 1 (8:35) Yeah, it does feel like it's kind of slowed down. I do feel like found footage, it only goes so far. I mean, the VHS franchises, God, that's similar. They come out with a new one every year. Speaker 1 (8:47) But yeah, I think found footage is largely dead. I think there's still some exciting things you can do with it, but it was polarizing even when it was popular. And by now, even some of the people that championed it are sick of it. So it feels like a risky move to even make one these Speaker 2 (9:04) days. Speaker 1 (9:05) Oh, yeah, definitely. But it's still got the low barrier entry. It's cheap to make. Speaker 2 (9:12) Yeah, yeah. I'm more interested, though, in some of these new formats, like talking about that guy that did that movie you just mentioned. What was that? Tone? Undertone. Undertone, yeah, like a podcast format or the dead streams and stuff or host. I'd love to see more kind of working with that. But yeah, found footage seems like it was very of this era and probably post-2017, 18, and it really hasn't been a thing. Speaker 1 (9:39) Right. Speaker 2 (9:40) Yeah. Speaker 1 (9:42) Let's see. You got any other background to bring up here? Not really. I feel like this is between not having a whole lot of interesting background to discuss and being a pretty straightforward plot. Feels like this is going to be our shortest episode in a long time. But do I have anything else worth mentioning to mention? Like I said in the insidious out of the further episode, this came out in October 22nd. really hitting that Halloween crest that we feel like just is underutilized in theatrical releases today. This movie acts as a prequel to Paranormal. You said that already, but kind of a prequel and happening side by side. Like it starts two months before the events of that film, but then eventually concludes after that first film ends. So kind of an interesting timeline, interesting what it's doing with the approach here. Speaker 1 (10:37) Yeah, and unfortunately, I don't have an Ohio connection. Alex is out of town for a little while, and I didn't feed him connections in time, so that is my bad. I had advanced warning, and I still failed all of you. But maybe we just lean into the spirit of a short episode and move into the plot walkthrough. Speaker 2 (10:56) Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, don't need to hang around Speaker 1 (11:00) on ceremony here. Oh, actually, though, we do have one more ceremonious thing. Shout out to some new patrons. Kelsey H., Peyton C., Dylan M., and Jade. And to anyone else who wants to support the show, go to patreon.com slash horror movie club and sign up. $3 a month. You keep the show ad-free. You get bonus content like a bonus episode every month. You get access to our Discord server. Yeah, Ashwin said those things already, I think, so I'll shut up. And this month is going to be on Day of the Dead from 1985 in keeping with the theme of sequel September. Nice. I'm excited to Speaker 2 (11:34) see that. And final reminder, or not final, I'm sure we'll mention it again. You keep Speaker 1 (11:39) saying final Speaker 2 (11:39) reminder, but... Yeah, Speaker 1 (11:41) I know. I think you're going to greet everyone who comes to the listener meetup. Speaker 2 (11:46) I Speaker 1 (11:46) know. Final reminder, Speaker 2 (11:47) it's happening. This Speaker 1 (11:49) is happening right now. Speaker 2 (11:50) Yep. October 10th, Chicago at Revolution Brewery. Brian and I are going to be hanging out if you want to join us. The link to sign up for that is on our website, Spaces Limited. So if you haven't RSVP'd yet, go there and sign up. So that's it. Should we jump into the plot and spoil it and review it? Speaker 1 (12:08) Let's do it. Speaker 2 (12:09) Okay, cool. Oh, hey, before we do, though, someone just came to work on the outside of our house. They're painting the outdoors. Mind if I give you a callback? Speaker 1 (12:18) Yeah, sure. Well, I understand they have to paint the outdoors. I know. It's a lot to paint there. All Speaker 2 (12:24) right. Speaker 1 (12:24) I'll Speaker 2 (12:24) be Speaker 1 (12:24) right back. That is a big job. It is. Speaker 2 (12:26) All right. Bye. Hey, Brian. Sorry about that. I'm back. Speaker 1 (12:50) Hey, how's the painting going? Speaker 2 (12:52) Oh, it's going really well. You know, as usual, though, I had to get my camera loaded up so I can record the conversation and the dealings with them as I showed them the outdoors to paint. So, you know, just standard practice to always record people when they come to work on your home, right? Speaker 1 (13:08) Boy, I know a common complaint with found footage is that it always tests the believability that someone would be filming in that situation. I feel like I have a high tolerance for it, but in this movie, there were some things that stuck out like a sore thumb. Yeah, I thought of you a lot. You Speaker 2 (13:22) don't Speaker 1 (13:22) film contractors in your house. They are not going to be okay with that. Speaker 2 (13:27) Yeah, usually I think that's not cool. I don't know if they consent to that kind of thing. But yeah, I thought about you when I saw some of the usage of camera here. Speaker 1 (13:35) Yes, yeah, it was strange. Speaker 2 (13:37) Yep. This movie starts out with some text about how the footage is from a police department and they think the family is setting us up with that expectation that, yeah, this is actually found footage of some terrible thing that's happened. We then meet the family, Mother Christy and Father Daniel. It's a couple, and they have a newborn named Hunter that they've brought home, and they're recording their first moments of the baby seeing the home. Also at home is Allie, who is Daniel's daughter from a previous marriage, and their housekeeper, Martine. One day, they come home to find their home a mess, and things are just... thrown about everywhere, but surprisingly nothing is stolen except for a bracelet that Christy had gotten from her sister, Katie. And Katie is that woman from the first paranormal activity who gets possessed by the entity. The family... I was wondering, so I think it's a necklace. Speaker 1 (14:35) Oh, it is? Okay, thanks. But I was wondering what the significance of that was and if it ever really came back. And I googled it, and then someone on Reddit... Just the way the word of this had me cracking up. I just want to read this Reddit post. Can someone explain what the significance of the necklace