Insidious : Chapitre 2

When I heard that they were making a sequel to this, I was both over-hyped with excitement and very nervous because let's face it, sequels rarely live up to the expectations of the originals. Thankfully though, this one did not disappoint (relative to the extent of other sequels).

It starts off directly where the original left off, which is nice because there is not a huge time gap in-between. Not only do they continue chapter 2 right where the first chapter left off, but the story also goes more in-depth with Josh's past.

Will every hard-core fan of Insidious be impressed by this sequel? Of course not. Insidious: Chapter 2 felt very different from the original. It was mostly because Insidious seemed more unique when it came out, while this chapter is more of the same with a few exceptions (e.g., possession). Without giving any major spoilers away, I will say that the last 30 minutes seemed more of a "slasher" movie than a paranormal movie, which may turn some hard-core Insidious fans away.

The scares also seemed forced at times, possibly from trying too hard to make the sequel as good, if not, better than the original, but it was still suspenseful regardless.

Overall 6/10

Insidious: Chapter 2 starts up almost right after the original Insidious ended with Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) Lambert reunited with their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) after his spirit was held prisoner by a demon in an afterlife dimension called 'The Further'. But, as we saw in the final frames, something else was now inhabiting Josh's body and it had strangled paranormal investigator Elise (Lin Shaye) to death. We pick up as the unsuspecting family, including older son Foster (Andrew Astor) and their infant daughter Kali, have moved in with Josh's mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) while police investigate Elise's mysterious death in their house. They are barely moved in when supernatural occurrences start to begin again with objects moving, spectral voices, apparitions appearing and dear old dad acting very strange. While Renai tries to deal with the fact that supernatural forces are still with them, Josh tries to convince her all is well and Lorraine decides to team up with Elise's former assistants paranormal investigators Specs (Leigh Whannell who also wrote the screenplay) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) along with one of the original investigators from Josh's childhood haunting, Carl (Steve Coulter) to get down to the bottom of these haunted hi-jinx once and for all. And that is all I will say about the story as, despite some familiar trappings, James Wan (The Conjuring) takes this installment in some clever directions and once again uses the familiar elements very well. We get to know the story behind the evil woman in black seen in the last film and even revisit The Further though, this time it is inventively linked to events in the first film. The pace is a bit slower and more methodical this time round but, since this film is a bit of a mystery as well as haunting, it takes it's time to let the story unfold and secrets be revealed. We still get some spooky scenes but, it is refreshingly mixed in with Lorraine and co's equally goose bump inducing investigation. And what they find is deviously fun. The film is not quite as lively as Insidious part one but, I liked the mystery element and the film earned points with me for using it's return to 'The Further' a bit more clever and less silly then last time. That is the point where the first film lost it's grip on me and here I like how it was done and was with this supernatural chiller up to the spooky end. Wan is a good director and he takes what could have been a ho-hum retread and makes it a fun follow-up. He gets good performances out of all his cast and while I found Patrick Wilson to be bland in both Insidious and The Conjuring, he gets a far more lively performance out of him here. He gets to ham it up a bit and it suits him. The film has some beautiful and creepy visuals, as is Wan's trademark, and Joseph Bishara's score adds some nice atmosphere too. So in conclusion, while the story elements are more familiar; we've seen some of it before and the pace a bit slower, Wan does give us a spooky mystery to add to the paranormal activity and makes much more clever use of his otherworldly 'Further'. He also gives us some clever answers to the questions left by his first Insidious and that all adds up to a spooky fun time at the movies. Also stars House Of The Devil's Joceline Donahue as young Lorraine in some equally clever flashback sequences that tie into the rest of the film in a fun way.

When you are making a horror movie it always helps to have a few things around in the movie in order to help set the mood. Things like creaky old doors, a piano, and preferably an old and creepy looking house. Now these are not absolutes, but they can help for sure. Horror movies are not like other movies, because there are so many possibilities for sequels, just look at the "Friday the 13th" series. In 2011 James Wan and Leigh Whannell brought us "Insidious", a story about a family that had unwelcome visitors in their house. The supernatural kind.

That family, the Lamberts, have gotten away from their house and the experience they had in it. Josh (Patrick Wilson), Renai (Rose Byrne), and their three children are all safe and move in with Josh's mom. At the beginning of the film you find out this is not Josh's fist experience with a sprit. It seems Josh has a gift where he sees dead people and with the help from Elise (Lin Shaye) he forgets that gift, until he uses it again to save his son from a place the living shouldn't be. That place I imagine is the same place Carol Anne from "Poltergeist" was in as well, but instead of talking through a TV, a tin can phone is used to communicate to the other side. Renai senses something is not right about Josh, a sentiment that is shared by Josh's mother as well. So with the help from a man named Carl (Steve Coulter) and two guys who provide the comic relief, they all set out to free Josh and his family from the evil that haunts them.

The story picks up exactly where the first film ended, which makes the chapter 2 a perfect title. There are so many more possible chapters to this story, because let's face it there are a lot of ghosts out there. "Insidious: Chapter 2" is part ghost story and part detective story, as we try to unravel what is following the Lamberts around. Lucky, unlike what he did with "Saw" we are still under the direction of James Wan and he keeps us on the same path as the first film. If you are going for jump out of your seat frights, then this is not the film for you. There are some moments that may make you jump a little, thanks to some good camera work, but this movie is more like "Seven" than say, "The Conjuring". In a genre that seems to be getting everything right at the moment, "Insidious: Chapter 2" doesn't disappoint. The only thing that could improve, is to have a little less common sense moments, you know those moments where a character does the thing everyone knows they shouldn't. I think it is very fitting to release this film on Friday the 13th, because like that franchise, you hope this one also has a long life making us afraid to sleep with the lights off.

Brian Taylor

http://the2cinemen.blogspot.com/

There is something more frightening than any curse or apparition that resides in movies; it is the blight of terrible sequel, and Insidious: Chapter 2 is haunted by it. Audience would come and expect the same terror from the original, but sadly will only find inferior version of it, a formulaic possession horror flick with little charm and plenty of high pitch noises. To its credit, it does bring some good acting and direction. The script also works as a continuation, but perhaps because the mystery has dwindled; it only manages to be an average horror without the same chill its predecessor has.

Story follows the events of Insidious where Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) returned with his son from the Further, an astral realm. However, an entity is believed to be latching onto him as the clairvoyance Elise Ranier (Lin Shaye) is found dead near him. His family grows restless from the apparent continuous haunting and ultimately tries to solve the problem despite the grim obstacles ahead. The plot is rather bland, there's simply a lack of tension as the terrorizing entity is somewhat predictable and plastic.

Patrick Wilson delivers a good performance, he displays more variety of emotions to establish the dread. In some scenes he gives off cold enigmatic feel to puzzle the audience. Returning cast reprise their roles, Ross Bryne as Renai Lambert does a fine job, although her display of motherly concern at the first title was slightly better. The two ghost hunters are back, this time for more comedy relief than anything. There are probably too many humorous scenes, some are unintentional, in this sequel.

Its use of music is cringe-worthy, in fact even with only the sound, it'd be quite terrifying. The scares don't have the same weight though, as they are reduced to simple bursts rather than real frightful ones. James Wan's camera angle is great; he casually makes the viewers think there might be more in scenes than there really are, especially with a hint of contrasting color, shadowy background or some objects in outer peripheral vision.

The movie does poorly when the mystic of its entities is unveiled. Getting into fisticuffs with ghosts diminish the atmosphere since they seem unreal, part of me inadvertently immediately knew it's just make-up and sound effect put together for an illusion. Take away the jarring build up, replace it with mediocre possession scheme, even if the directing is well done, and you'll have a subpar sequel. It still performs its scare tricks decently, so at the very least it'll make you flinch a couple of times.

I really liked the first Insidious and though it was suspenseful and creepy, after seeing Insidious: Chapter 2 I thought it was a good sequal taking place after the first.

It was creepy and suspenseful and the acting from Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne and Lin Shaye were still really good also the child acting was pretty good.

James Wan made a good sequal to a really good movie, the movie is a possession movie but it changes it up and does something new that works well.

I won't spoil how the first Insidious movie ended just in case you haven't seen it, but I think this is worth watching like the first.