Film Review: Insidious: Chapter 2

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Angus Sampson, entertainment, Film Review, film review Insidious: Chapter II, Films, Horror movies scary movies, Insidious, Insidious: Chapter II, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Steven Coulter, Ty Simpkins

The Lamberts are back and so are their dead friends. Following directly on from the first film, Insidious: Chapter 2 continues the story of Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) and all that goes bump in the night.

After Josh succeeded in rescuing his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) from ‘the Further’ and the murder of psychic Elise (Lin Shaye) the Lamberts family move in with Josh’s mum Lorraine (Barbara Hershey). But it soon becomes obvious that yet again the move didn’t get rid of the ghosts. As the plot thickens it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems and something followed Josh back into reality.

Although Renia (Rose Byrne) believes her husband to be innocent she can’t help but feel uneasy and when the piano begins to play on it’s own accord, toys move around and a women starts to appear, threatening both her and the kids, she looks to ghost busters Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) for help again. With the help of old-timer Carl (Steven Coulter) and his dice the duo tries to find answers.

Director James Wan doesn’t really surprise with anything new and although some questions from the 2010 film do get answered, Insidious: Chapter II is not very exciting.  Chilling music, some sudden scars and suspense may have worked well in Insidious, but in Chapter II it seems like old tricks.

However the Scooby-Doo like pairing of Whannell and Sampson works better this time around, as they are less annoying, but it is Wilson who gets the bigger laughs, intentionally we hope!

Insidious: Chapter II relies too much on its previous success and does depend a little too much on the viewer knowing what happened before.  And although both Hershey and Byrne have quite a lot of screen-time, they don’t offer anything new, leaving Wilson to carry the story, which he does, but it is not enough.

Sadly the children feel like moving props and even though 12-year-old Simkins is vital for the solution he doesn’t shine like he did in Iron Man 3. This has possibly more to do with the feeble storyline and chaotic plot than with his ability.

But if you like a few scares without any gore and are willing to believe the ludicrous story Insidious: Chapter II is a bit of fun.