It was never going to have the same shock of the new that the first had, but there are at least half a dozen moments that really suck the air out of the room with a collective audience gasp, and plenty of scenes that string out the dread. It has to work a little harder and, with more characters and cameras as well as a little more humour, it really pays off.
Those seeking answers to the questions left dangling last year will get some satisfaction. Those hoping to be blown away all over again by another cult horror sensation will not. All the same, you’ll be double-checking the doors when you get home.
Given that this is the sort of project greenlit on the strength of the opening weekend numbers of the original rather than because the filmmakers had a burning desire to tell this story, it’s not a bad job. But only time – and next Halloween - will reveal it as a franchise killer like Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 or a springboard for a hardy series like Saw II.
Tod Williams’s film can’t find a way to integrate its handheld footage in a way which makes real sense of the fake-documentary format, but at this stage, this is a minor quibble. We know the makeshift grammar of these films by now, and as a purely practical way of setting us up for escalating shocks, it does the job.
Part of the fun to be had lies in seeing it in a packed cinema where a kind of mass hysteria sets in at the prospect of the next big bang. For real chills, I’ll stick to rereading last year’s gas bill.
In many respects it’s the same movie as the first, just done less effectively.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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