Insidious: Chapter 2





Well now. Everyone knows what a big fan I was of the original film...

First of all, INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 is not in the least bit scary. It doesn't approach the first half of INSIDIOUS or THE CONJURING on any level in terms of scare-factor. It's also full of on-the-nose dialogue and a major lack of logic ("I went in there to save our son, and then something came back with me and killed Elise!" Nobody seems concerned about said something still, you know, hanging around.)

That said, it's kind of fun. While it never hits the heights of the first, it never hits the lows, either. The Further is used here in kind of a cool way as the film takes a few minutes to pull a BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II. And there's something hilarious to the fact that -- spoiler alert, I guess -- the old woman in the veil who possessed Patrick Wilson at the end of the first film is really a guy in drag.

I really have no interest in an INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 but I don't regret seeing CHAPTER 2. Part of me thinks the complete lack of scares could put me on the more forgiving side of reaction to this film, though.

the furthering

INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2

I watched the double feature yesterday and enjoyed this presentation. I had not watched Insidious in a long while so the scares were mostly fresh for me. Fast forward to Chapter 2 and I got a little worried in the beginning with the flashback because I started to think it was a prequel. Luckily it was just a flashback. I was surprised at the kids because they seemed to look exactly like they did in the first film. It's like they must have filmed this right after wrapping the first one. Nice to see the kid from IM3. Anyway, after the flashback the film picks up. I admit the film seems to take it's time getting to some good stuff but it does eventually get there. The audience I saw it with wasn't a big one but there were about three really good moments that got the crowd into the film. I can only guess that effect will be substantially greater with a packed house. That's the main reason I'd see the film again. As far as the story, it's a bit lackluster with the origin of this female who's been haunting the family. I also thought the back and forth was a bit head scratching but what the hell, I really don't want to be over analyzing films, so just go with it. The final bit is quite satisfying and I'd love to see it continue.

Grade - B

As an avowed fan of the first Insidious, a film I consider colorful, engaging, and at times very frightening, I saw this second chapter with high expectations and found it satisfying and deflating in almost equal measure. It deserves a nod of the head for trying to craft an interesting storyline which ties into the timeline of the prior film and does not retreat from its twist sting ending. Not every choice, however, pans out as intended. A memorable returning ghoul is given a history and a motive reminiscent of a Criminal Minds suspect and is nowhere near as menacing afterward, evidence again the barely glimpsed shadow tends to be more anxiety inducing than a known commodity, however nastily conceived. At the same time, though, director James Wan, fresh from summer mega-hit The Conjuring, is a genre pro and stages a few spectacular jolts and also several subtle, more haunting ones, including a terse elevator ride later revealed to be a supernatural encounter. And the talented ensemble cast, including Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, and idiosyncratic character actress Lin Shaye, deliver committed, above average performances, so it is never hard to invest in and root for their characters.

B-

P.S. It should have ended with the family embracing each other, even if a tad corny. The Insidious Chapter 3 teasing cliffhanger is bland, particularly compared to the first film's ending.

I also love how the son is able to fall asleep on a dime (to enter the Further) even as his possessed father is rampaging around, Shining style.

I felt it was a bit convoluted and the main villain this time around has nothing on the demon from the first. As a continuation of the first it's decent and they did do a good job of connecting them, I just wasn't nearly as involved this time around and it wasn't scary. Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson were both good in it though. I would obviously watch a third but am not even sure I like what they're alluding to with the ending of this one. It's certainly nothing that gets me excited for Chapter 3. I would probably rate this one a C+. I was debating between that and a low B- but the C+ seems more accurate.

It was even better than the first,

A-

Insidious: Chapter 2

It's a pretty bad film. The first is a masterpiece compared to this. This focuses too much on the back story (which itself doesn't make sense) that they forgot to actually scare the audience. Also, while the back story about the black bride is interesting, I feel the filmmakers invented ghost time travel. It didn't make much sense to me. The third film is set up nicely, but this one was a waste of time. For a film that focuses on the black bride killer (the scariest character in this franchise), very little time is actually spent showing her (actually a him) do killing. It would have been scarier if we saw the bride when we saw Wilson trying to kill his family. Any screen time at all would be scarier than seeing a make-upped Patrick Wilson doing his best Jack Nicholson impression.

I think James Wan is a talented director, though, and I will miss him from the horror genre. I love the title card of these two films. It reminds me so much of 50s horror movies, like Hammer horror or something. Very nice touch.

Oh, and the guy that looked like Christoph Waltz had the most fake goatee I've ever seen.

D+

C+

What an unfortunate letdown and the worst film James Wan has ever directed. Its predecessor was one of the scariest horror films that I have seen in years when it came out and was a great mixture of old-school scares mixed with fantasy elements à la Poltergeist. The sequel continues the story in an interesting way and I really liked the plot structure that keeps going back to the events of the first movie, but its main problem was plain and simple - no scares, no tension. It is an interesting film and I was intrigued by how it would all be resolved, but following up one of the scariest horror movies of this decade with a sequel so utterly lacking in fright was a major disappointment.

After watching it again this summer because my cousin hadn't seen it definitely lowering my rating to a C. I'd never want to sit through it again. Such a bore. Watching it a second time was not fun at all.