Insidious Chapter 2

For those who have read my movie reviews during the years, you might have noticed i am a big fan of director James Wan. He is one of the few very talented horror directors since the Millenium, who have his own style. The Conjuring was a blast, and actually got me scared ( that does not happen very often ). In 2010, i really enjoyed James Wan´s movie Insidious. The plot may have been simple, but it was the content that worked so well. The visual look and the style fit right in together, with some great acting. I did not expect a sequel, at least not yet. But here it is, the second movie of Insidious. The casting is pretty much the same, but is this a better sequel, or is this just another cash in at the box office ?

In the year 1986, a medium named Carl ( Steve Caulter ) is called to help his friend Elise Rainer ( Lin Shaye ). Elise have been contacted by a mother of a young boy, Josh. She have pictures of him, where you can see something is present, haunting him. Elise begin to do her session, by video recording the interviews. While Josh is hypnotized, he suddenly begin to talk to someone, no one else can see. Elaine end the video interview. Moving on to present day. Josh Lambert ( Patrick Wilson ) and his wife Renai Lambert ( Rose Byrne ), have moved to Josh mother Lorraine Lambert ( Barbara Hershey ), together with their 3 sons. They try to move on with their lives after the traumatic events following their haunted home, and hope to make a fresh start. Renai feel that something is not right. That maybe the haunting has not stopped just because they moved away. Josh try and convince his wife that she should try and leave this behind, and focus on the family instead. But then strange things begin to happen again, and a woman in a dress appear. The kids begin to see things also, as Renai realise that the haunting never stopped. Since Elaine is no longer alive, her friend Carl decide to help the family, with the paranormal investigators, that helped the family last time. While they investigate who this woman is, and why she tries to make contact, Carl soon finds out that the truth is more disturbing than he ever could have imagined.

I will say Insidious Chapter 2 have some great moments. And Patrick Wilson still knows how to make a great performance. But this is not as good as the first movie. One of the reasons is that i dont feel this is scary enough, to affect me. Some scenes are very well made, while other scenes feel kind of blend. The story though have some suprising turns, that gives the plot a good explanation of why Josh have been haunted all this time. And the style of James Wan still give us some nice treats along the way. Ok, i am a little disappointed , but overall this is still a pretty good sequel. And the ending proves that we will have a third movie on the way, so i hope we can get more of everything by next time. By the way, check out Elaine´s home in one scene, there are some nice details there that tells you that she might have more stories to tell.

Rating: DDD