Director James Wan conjures up a new sequel to his 2011 horror film “Insidious” that is not up to par with his previous work. “Insidious: Chapter 2”, appropriately released on Friday the 13, is a continuation of the first with a husband and wife trying to make sense of the horrific secret that has followed their family from each generation to the next.
More than just the evil spirits that haunted the Lambert family in “Insidious” carry over into this sequel, which follows the same basic plot as its predecessor. The father, Josh, and the oldest son, Dalton, have the “gift” to astral-project, which means they can enter a purgatory of demons and spirits, and travel into the astral dimension that is known as “the Further.”
However, fans walk into the theater already knowing that the father is the one who is possessed and by which demonic spirits.
What does set “Insidious: Chapter 2” apart from “Insidious” is the well-developed back-story that we didn’t get from the first. This time around we learn more about Josh’s past, though not through the usual scary movie cliché of flashbacks, but by seeing documentary clips of his childhood possessions by a medium named Elise, whose shocked, dead face begins the film. Elise attempts to find the spirits that appear in pictures of Josh as a child, through playing a game of Hot and Cold.
Another well-developed back-story that adds a different level of horror to the film is that of a serial killer and his twisted mother who forced him to grow up as a girl. We find out he committed suicide at a now-abandoned hospital where Josh’s mother worked, known as “the Dark Bride,” and that his mother is now communicating with Carl, another medium.
The movie starts off with Josh’s wife, Renai, being interrogated by the police because Josh is the prime suspect to Elise’s murder. Wanting to escape the spirits and memories that haunt the Lambert’s in their old home, they move to Josh’s childhood home. What is uncovered in the next house is Dalton’s ability to astral-project, but only in his sleep.
More classic cliché PG-13 horror movie tricks appear in “Insidious: Chapter 2” such as communicating with the spirits through tin cans connected by a string (a classic childhood pastime), creepy old abandoned hospitals, possessed wooden rocking horses, spirit driven baby toys, dark hallway wandering, pop-out scary faces, communication from the spirits through dice, and finally, the classic scary movie house: an old, dark Victorian with faded wallpaper. The standard horror movie grade of stiff acting and these universal scary movie tricks make “Chapter 2” even more predictable.
As the end of the film reveals, we won’t have to wait long to figure out who will be haunted by the Further next, and hopefully these questions will all be answered in Chapter 3. As for now, “Insidious: Chapter 2” is a pass for those who are looking for an original and terrifying horror film and a go-see for those who are looking for a mediocre, predictable first-date type scary movie.