Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night

When I first heard about a Japanese take on Paranormal Activity, I thought it was a joke. Then I saw the trailer for it and thought it looked horrible. Being a big fan of Paranormal Activity films, I really wanted to see it. Unfortunately, they didn't release it here in America, and I'm still waiting. However, I managed to get that chance to watch it but I couldn't understand a word they were saying since there was no subtitles on the transfer I saw.

To be honest, this film feels just like the first Paranormal Activity. It begins with the guy in front of the mirror adjusting his camera, a lot like Micah's opening scene on the first one. Then he goes out to his driveway to a car where some girl is..... hmmm... feels like the first Paranormal Activity again. But unlike the first Paranormal Activity, it begins with something happening early on in the film. He puts a mound of sugar on the door and finds out that it mysteriously gets wiped all over the floor.

I also like that they kept the whole Night #1 title card that the Paranormal Activity films have. The unfortunate thing is that the first half of the film just feels like a rehash of the first one. Doors opening and closing, the girl screams out of her sleep, sometimes just going nuts for some reason. As I'm watching, I'm waiting for something different to happen. It has to offer something new eventually.

It does.

For the last thirty minutes or so of the film, things get a little crazy. There's a moment in the film that is creepier than any of the American Paranormal Activity films never achieved. I won't spoil it, but let's just say you will know when you see it. There's also a little twist in the end, where you think it's going to end the same way as the first film.... but it doesn't.

Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night is a worthy entry in the Paranormal Activity series. It does tie into the franchise and worth a watch if you like these films. Next time I see it, I'm watching it with subtitles so I know what they're talking about. There's a lot of slow parts, though. Then again, so did the American versions.

Tokyo Night is... strange. It was released right when the actual Paranormal Activity 2 came out and is supposed to be a forgotten side-quel(?) which is not even canon anymore. This is a shame because I enjoyed it way more than most of the actual sequels that came out in this franchise. That's not to say that Tokyo Night is some misunderstood gem. It's mostly just a retread of the first film, but this time in Japan. I was expecting it to put a J-horror flair on the Western Paranormal Activity formula but it didn't do anything to carve out its own identity. Although it did manage to somehow terrify me during its last 20 minutes but I do think that it needed a bit more ambitious approach. Unfortunately, Tokyo Night is a strange anomaly that has been forgotten in time because it couldn't be bold and just did more of what already became tired after the first Paranormal Activity.

This film effectively builds tension and utilizes its cultural setting to deliver scares, drawing upon Japanese folklore and urban legends to enhance the horror experience. The found-footage format adds to the film's realism and immersion, maintaining a steady pace as the supernatural events unfold. The siblings and their relationships with other characters feel so authentic that you can't help but believe they are indeed related even outside the confines of the film. Although the sequel may suffer from a lack of originality, while potentially perpetuating cultural stereotypes, it remains a decent add-on to the franchise, with chilling moments and a unique cultural perspective on the horror genre.

Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night was a film I didn't even know existed, until stumbling across a dvd copy at a flea market. It's virtually a Japanese version of the original Paranormal Activity... though the plot does have a connection with the 2007 film, which I had no idea was coming. A Japanese girl returns home from the US after a car accident which left with her two broken legs. She's living with her brother and father (who is not there most of the time due to business trips). After the first night odd things start happening in the house, and the brother decides to start filming these incidents. And story goes from there. The same predictable formula of frights and intrigue ... right down to the downbeat ending, yet it remains watchable.

Haruka Yamano (Noriko Aoyama) returns from America to Tokyo in a wheelchair with both legs with multiple fractures in a car accident and is helped by her father and her brother Koichi Yamano (Aoi Nakamura). Their father travels to Singapore for business meetings and Koichi takes care of his sister and films her most of the time with his camera.

On the next morning, Haruka tells that her wheelchair had moved during the night and Koichi check the windows of her room to see if a stranger has broken in their house. He tells that probably a spirit had moved the wheelchair and he uses salt near the door of Haruka's bedroom to protect her against evil spirits. However, on the next morning they find that the salt is spread near the door. He checks the tape and believes that the house is haunted by a ghost. He decides to tape his room too and along the days, weird noises and events happen in the house.

They invite the priest Saionji to purify the house against ghosts and along four days nothing unusual happens. Haruka tells to Koichi that, in America, she had hit a woman called Katie that had just murdered her boyfriend and appeared in front of her car. Their father returns home but he needs to travel again. But on the fifth night they see in the tape that the house is still haunted. Koichi decides to call Saionji again, but they learn that the priest had died five nights ago after leaving their house. Haruka discloses to her brother that weird things had happened to her also in America. Further, she tells that she had researched the life of Katie and had found that the girl was also haunted by ghosts. Now the fiend is more violent and still haunts the siblings and they do not know what to do.

The low-budget "Paranômaru Akutibiti: Dai-2-shô - Tokyo Night" is a remake of "Paranormal Activity", with a similar story. After the original "The Blair Witch Project", many low-budget movies made with hand-held camera have been released. "Paranormal Activity" is ridiculously overrated but this Japanese remake is better than the original. However, the remake of a bad film may be even better, but never a great film. Last but not the least, this is the first time that I see a Japanese remake of an American film and both do not worth watching. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Atividade Paranormal Tóquio" ("Paranormal Activity Tokyo")