Insidious: Chapter 2

Insidious is one of my favourite cinema films. The balance between scares and laughs was perfect and the crowd on the night bought into this 100%.  The film has become a genuine favourite and has given Patrick Wilson a respectable third place in the list of actors that I would like to hug.

The success of Insidious meant that a sequel was inevitable and I was not unhappy with this.

PLOT:  Elise (Lin Shaye) is now dead and Josh, (Patrick Wilson) Renai (Rose Byrne) and their children are still being haunted.  It falls to Lorraine, (Barbara Hershey) Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) to investigate who is haunting the Lamberts and more importantly why.  END PLOT

The scares in Insidious were affective as the entire film took place inside a house which allowed the claustrophobia and tension to build.  Insidious: Chapter2 loses this slightly as the plot is much more spread out.  The investigation, although creepy in its own right, takes up a surprising amount of screen time leaving the Lamberts an afterthought in their own film.

There were portions of the film which didn’t feature the Lambert family but it made me realise that the characters created in Insidious were so strong that I didn’t mind. 

The twist could be seen a mile off but I was happy to go with the flow and watch it play out.  The Further was explored in greater depth and although it tied in nicely with events in the first film the time travel element made Chapter2 unnecessarily complicated.

Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are excellent as Josh and Renai Lambert.  Byrne has got the worried look down to a fine art and Wilson was clearly having a ball toing and froing between personalities.  Judging by the reaction of the nearly full cinema screen Wilson’s teapot lob was the comedy highlight of the film.

The supporting cast of Hershey, Whannell and Sampson get much more to do this time around.  The double team of Whannell and Sampson creates quite a few giggles and screams spinoff series. Rock, paper, scissors is now redundant.

A character played by the writer gets more screen time in the sequel.  Shocker.

 

Insidious 2 did not disappoint and ticked all the necessary boxes – it gets 8/10.  Unfortunately it didn’t surpass the first instalment but I never ever really expected it to.  It brought the Lamberts’ story to a close and I am more than content with this.