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Paranormal Activity 2

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Paranormal Activity 2
Theatrical poster
Directed byTod Williams
Screenplay byMichael R. Perry
Christopher Landon
Tom Pabst
Oren Peli
Story byMichael R. Perry
Produced byOren Peli
Jason Blum
Akiva Goldsman
StarringKatie Featherston
Micah Sloat
Brian Boland
Sprague Grayden
Molly Ephraim
Tim Clemens
CinematographyMichael Simmonds
Edited byGregory Plotkin
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • October 20, 2010 (2010-10-20) (France)
  • October 22, 2010 (2010-10-22) (United States)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3,000,000[1]
Box office$163,986,661

Paranormal Activity 2 is a 2010 American supernatural horror film directed by Tod Williams and written by Michael R. Perry. The film is a parallel prequel to the 2007 film Paranormal Activity, beginning two months before and following up with the events depicted in the original film. It was released in theaters at midnight on October 22, 2010, in the United States, Mexico, Poland, Ireland, United Kingdom and Canada.[2]

Plot

In 2006, a "burglary" occurs at the home of Kristi (Sprague Grayden) and Dan Rey (Brian Boland). Every single room is completely trashed except for their infant son Hunter's bedroom. The only thing stolen is a necklace that Kristi's sister, Katie (Katie Featherston), had given to her. Dan installs a number of security cameras throughout the house to watch over their son, Hunter. The family starts to hear noises and see items fall or move on their own. Martine (Vivis Cortez), the family housekeeper and nanny, believes evil spirits are the cause and attempts to cleanse the house of "evil spirits," and Dan fires her after catching her burning sage. Katie and Kristi talk about being tormented by a demon or unknown spirit when they were children. Dan's daughter, Ali (Molly Ephraim), begins investigating the mysterious happenings. She discovers that on occasion, a human can make a deal with a demon for wealth or power by forfeiting the life of their first-born son. She also realizes that until Hunter, there had not been a male child born in Kristi and Katie's family since the time of their great-great grandmother.

The violence continues to escalate, and Kristi is tormented further; the family's German shepherd dog, Abby, is attacked and pulled violently off camera and apparently suffers a seizure. Dan and Ali take the dog to the vet, leaving Kristi alone with Hunter. She goes to check on the baby and notices a light flicker off. She turns the light back on but then is dragged by an unseen force out of the room and halfway down the stairs before she is released. Kristi runs back upstairs into Hunter's room but is violently dragged back downstairs. This time she is dragged into the basement where she stays for several hours. Finally, the security camera footage shows the basement door opening and a possessed Kristi walking through the living room.

The following day, Ali is at home with Kristi, who won't get out of bed. Ali looks at the inside of the door to the basement to find it covered in scratches and a single word, Meus (Latin for "mine"), illegibly scratched into the door. After hearing noises, Ali finds Kristi ignoring Hunter but aggressively demands she not touch him. Ali cries downstairs waiting for Dan to arrive home to bear witness to Kristi's strange change of character. When he arrives, Ali, who has now watched the security tapes from the night before, begs him to view the footage of Kristi's attack. Upon watching the evidence, he immediately calls Martine, who then prepares a cross that will pass the demon onto another blood relative, and that Kristi will have no memory of having been possessed. Dan tells Ali that he is going to pass the demon onto Katie so that Kristi and Hunter will be saved. Although Ali pleas with him, begging him not to because it is not fair to Katie, Dan sees no other way to save his wife and son.

That night, when Dan tries to use the cross on Kristi, she violently attacks him, and all the lights in the house go out. They turn the night vision of the hand held camera on, and find that Kristi has disappeared after snatching Hunter. Furniture all over the house begins toppling over, and the chandeliers in the dining area shake. Dan chases Kristi into the basement and after a few minutes of looking for her, she attacks him. He touches her with the cross, causing her to collapse to the floor, the camera facing the other way as the ground rumbles. Inhuman growls and roars are heard, until it finally stops suddenly. The next scene shows Dan putting Kristi to bed and then burning a photo of a young Katie, which Micah (Micah Sloat), Katie's boyfriend, would later find in the attic of their house.

Three weeks later, on September 18th, Katie visits and explains how things have now begun happening at her house. After Katie leaves, she is shown at her and Micah's house, where he has just purchased a new video camera. On 9th October - the night after Micah is murdered (in Paranormal Activity) - Katie, possessed and bloodstained, breaks into their home and kills Dan by breaking his neck. She then climbs the stairs and confronts Kristi in Hunter's room, violently hurling her against the wall and taking the baby. The final scene is Katie leaving the room, cradling Hunter with a satisfied look on her face.

An epilogue text states that Ali was on a school trip and returned home on October 12th to find her father and stepmother dead and that Katie's and Hunter's whereabouts remain unknown.

Cast

  • Anthony as a retard in 4th period
  • Jordan as a Lame as well :D* Sprague Grayden as Kristi Rey, Katie's sister.
  • Molly Ephraim as Ali Rey, Dan's daughter.
  • Brian Boland as Dan Rey, a remarried widowed father.
  • Katie Featherston as Katie
  • Micah Sloat as Micah
  • Seth Ginsberg as Brad
  • Vivis Cortez as Martine
  • Jackson Xenia Prieto and William Juan Prieto as Hunter Rey, Dan and Kristi's baby son.
  • David Bierend as Surveillance Camera Expert

Production

Paramount and DreamWorks hired screenwriter Michael R. Perry to create the follow-up. Oren Peli, the director of the first film, served as a producer for the sequel.[3] Kevin Greutert, director of Saw VI, was initially hired to direct the sequel. However Lions Gate Entertainment exercised a clause in Greutert's contract to have him direct the final film in the Saw franchise.[4] Both of the actors from the first film, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, reprise their roles for the sequel.[5] Tod Williams directed Paranormal Activity 2, which started production in May 2010.[6]

Marketing

In a special promotion set up by the film's producers, participants had a chance to win a free movie ticket if they were in the top twenty cities to demand the film, via Eventful.com.[7] The teaser trailer was seen with The Twilight Saga: Eclipse upon its release on June 30, 2010.[8] Cinemark has pulled the trailer from several Texas theaters after receiving complaints that it was too frightening.[9] In Mexico, it was attached to the 3D version of Resident Evil: Afterlife. A second theatrical trailer was released on October 1, 2010. The trailer was attached to Devil, My Soul to Take and Jackass 3D.[10]

Release

The film was released in France on October 20, 2010, in Australia on October 21, 2010 and was released in the United States on October 22, 2010. The film was shown in IMAX format.[11]

Critical reception

Paranormal Activity 2 received mixed reviews. Based on 109 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Paranormal Activity 2 has an overall 61% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 6.1 out of 10. The critical consensus is: "Paranormal Activity 2 doesn't cover any new ground, but its premise is still scary -- and in some respects, it's a better film than the original." [12] By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received a "mixed or average" score of 51, based on 25 reviews.[13] Roger Ebert, who awarded the original film three and a half stars, awarded Paranormal Activity 2 one and a half out of a possible four stars.[14]

Box office

Paranormal Activity 2 broke the record for biggest midnight gross for an R-rated movie with $6.3 million beating previous Watchmen with $4.6 million.[15] On its opening day, Paranormal Activity 2 placed number one at the box office, making $20,100,000 and finished with a total of $41,500,000 estimated over the weekend, placing first at the box office.[16] It has currently grossed $84,105,661 in North America and $79,881,000 overseas, giving the film a worldwide total of $163,986,661.[17]

Sequel

In an interview with Dread Central, director and producer, Oren Peli, stated that Paramount Pictures has given the green light to begin production of Paranormal Activity 3. It is planned to be in theaters on October 21, 2011.[18]

References

  1. ^ Fritz, Ben (October 21, 2010). "Movie projector: 'Paranormal Activity 2' looking to scare 'Jackass 3-D' out of the top spot". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  2. ^ "New 'Paranormal Activity 2' Trailer Delivers Some Answers -- Finally!". DiChiara, Tom. MTV.com. October 1, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  3. ^ "'Saw VI' Director Hired for 'Paranormal Activity 2'". Newsinfilm.com. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  4. ^ Holmes, Matt (January 28, 2010). "Kevin Greutert blogs his feelings on Saw 3-D vs. Paranormal Activity 2 studio battle!". Obsessedwithmovies.com. Retrieved January 29, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Singh, Shamsher (July 2, 2010). "Paranormal Activity 2 "Too Scary"". TopnNews. Retrieved July 6, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Leins, Jeff (March 26, 2010). "Paranormal Activity 2 Director Found". NewsinFilm.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Paranormal Activity 2". Eventful. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  8. ^ "Paranormal Activity 2 Teaser Coming with Twilight: Eclipse". ComingSoon.net. June 24, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  9. ^ McClintock, Pamela (July 1, 2010). "'Paranormal Activity 2' trailer pulled from theaters". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Paranormal Activity 2". Apple Trailers.
  11. ^ Pupkin, Rupert (October 15, 2010). "Paranormal Activity 2: Coming to You in IMAX?". Reel Movie News. Retrieved October 18, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Paranormal Activity 2 Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  13. ^ "Paranormal Activity 2 (2010): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  14. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 22, 2010). "Roger Ebert Paranormal Activity 2 Review". Retrieved November 2, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "'Paranormal Activity 2' Breaks Midnight-Screening Record". MTV.com. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
  16. ^ "Paranormal Activity 2 Tops Horror Box Office Numbers". MoreHorror.com. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  17. ^ "Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  18. ^ Barton, Steve (November 17, 2010). "Exclusive Breaking News - Paranormal Activity 3 on Its Way!!!". Dread Central. Retrieved November 18, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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