Because the acting was better, the distance between the action & the camera was further and a child is involved, Paranormal Activity 2 is scarier than its predecessor. Initially the numerous cameras and mirrors feel gimmicky, but it works. Though the explicit cause of the family’s trouble is not explained as quickly at the beginning of the film as its predecessor, Old Testament themes of idolatry and ill-gotten wealth pervade the film–it is no accident that each film takes place in a rather large & new home. The real tension lies in the failure of the caretaker and the lack of unity in the family because of status (the nanny), age or inexperience (the stepdaughter/babysitter), the dismissal of a women’s personal knowledge/instincts (the mother, the stepdaughter & the aunt), the prioritizing of material comfort over a child’s security (great great grandmother) & the prioritizing of some familial relationships over the security of the entire family (the father).