Insidious: Chapter 2 (2024)

Too much of everything

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Absolutely Fantastic

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

The Lamberts believe that they have defeated the spirits that have haunted their family, but they soon discover that evil is not beaten so easily. Insidious: Chapter 2 is the sequel to the 2010 Insidious and once again reunites Director James Wan alongside Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. This movie or this sequel in general was not better than the original but Wan definitely made a movie just as good as that first one. The storyline once again is very interesting and there's some nice twists and turns along the way especially regarding Wilson's character, the new evil does show up here and there and is pretty creepy and the film does have some clear references to The Shining at times. (10/10)

It's not often you get a sequel, particularly in horror, that is nearly as good as the original. For me, this sequel did the trick. Continuing straight where the last film left off, the Lambert family are still being terrified and so they attempt to find out who is really haunting them and finish this once and for all. As with any instalment in this franchise, we have jumps scares galore, ghostly spirits in questionable fashion attire and plenty of backhanding (seriously this ghost smacks everyone). The story gets slightly convoluted and confusing for the sake of continuity, doesn't work all the time...to the point where it's paradoxical. Whilst the majority of the scares are predictable and just loud noises, the film took more of a thriller approach rather than a straight up horror flick. In my opinion, this worked better. James Wan knew not to compete with the first instalment and so he took the franchise in a different direction, and it worked. Particularly towards the end where there are moments of real tension. The Lambert family go through a lot, I mean any other family would go "nope. Nope I'm out of here." and just keep running away. So the scares, pretty much the same as the first film. Ghostly figures, noises from the baby monitor, piano mysteriously playing and one heck of an annoying child's toy/buggy/pram/whatever the flip it is. Problem is, whenever these scenes occur the actual jump scare is followed by a loud concoction of string instruments and you're actually more scared of that then what's on screen. The musical score is consistently good though, I mean those violins still give me nightmares. All the performances were good once again, always have a soft spot for Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. James Wan is the king of modern horror, his slow tracking and panning shots are fantastic...add in ghosts hiding in the background and it just heightens the experience. This is a good horror sequel, which is rare for me to say these days.

This 2013 horror sequel stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Steve Coulter and Lin Shaye. This picks up immediately after the original where Renai (Byrne) and Josh Lambert (Wilson) and their children have moved in with Josh's mom, Lorraine (Hershey). She and Renai notice Josh hasn't been himself lately and suspect that he may be possessed by the dark spirits that have unfinished business. Lorraine seeks help from Specs (Whannell) and Tucker (Sampson) since psychic, Elise Rainier (Shaye) has passed on. Coulter plays Carl, a long-time friend of Elise and Lorraine who helps them get Josh's spirit back by going into the spiritual realm, The Further. This is a good follow-up I recommend.

Insidious 2 is everything its prequel was, but less in every way. The story suffered more, and the cheap shock drops were more abundant. It plays off a good idea but is poorly executed. Insidious 2 is another drop in the sea of forgettable horror films. James Wan definitely has his own style, and whilst it worked for Saw, it could not help this dying film with life. Patrick Wilson is predictable in his character, whilst Rose Byrne's character is in a constant state of terror, shock, and unstable irrationality. It should go without saying that the acting by both is below average at best. The true horror of this film is that there are sequels made, and more to come.