Insidious: Chapter 2

Movie / Show Details

Amazon.com

With a new breed of horror movies showing no signs of stopping their box-office assault, it’s no surprise that the franchise machines keep going. The success of spooky thrillers like The Conjuring, Possession, and Insidious have studios foaming at the mouth, and Insidious: Chapter 2 is about as foamy a nightmare a greedy executive could imagine. Setting aside the preposterous nature of such fare and the familiar laziness that can also be known as sequelitis, this second offering will doubtless leave devotees of the genre both happy and horrified. After his monster success with The Conjuring (not to mention his pedigree as originator of the Saw franchise), director James Wan returns to the haunted houses and shadowy beyond of the Insidious realm along with writer Leigh Whannell. Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) has just stepped back from the spirit world, but he’s acting mighty strange. Could it be that the evil entities he encountered in the first movie and which had been holding the soul of his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) hostage came back with him to this side? Wilson and Wan have a little more fun adding nervous humor to the scares, making Josh a worthy successor in the crazy department to Jack Torrance in The Shining. The script takes some risks with time shifts and structural supports that are often confusing–until they get neatly wrapped up, that is. Insidious: Chapter 2 makes nifty use of the tropes it exploited the first time around with the “boo!”s and screams coming from implied terror. That’s not to say there aren’t an abundance of truly creepy ghosts and specters to ogle. The returning cast also includes Rose Byrne as Josh’s wife and Barbara Hershey as his mother, along with the comic-relief ghostbusters Angus Sampson and writer Whannell. Also lending her spirit is Lin Shaye as the helpful medium who saves the day again, even though she died the first time around. Perhaps not quite as insidiously engaging as the first installment, Chapter 2 will nevertheless insinuate itself into your scare center with the effectiveness of a chemical formula. –Ted Fry

Product Description

The terrifying sequel to Insidious, follows the haunted Lambert family as they seek to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne and Barbara Hershey reprise their roles in the film directed by James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring).