Review of Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) by Edward F — 05 Jan 2014

The first Insidious was that rare horror film that actually made me jump while watching it because of a horrific onscreen surprise. A good, decent sequel to a horror film that measures up to its predecessor is even more rare than that .

.. and sadly Chapter 2 of Insidious is NOT that rare find. While I was quite pleased to see the entire cast (sans the Darth Maul look-alike) return for this second film -- which takes place a mere few weeks after the events of the first -- that is about the only redeeming merit to be found in this predictable and tepid sequel as most of it feels generic and rehashed.

There are no real, new genuine surprises here and no great "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sequence -- it all feels like a do-over of other, less-great wannabe horror films which made Chapter 2 a major disappoint in my book.

While judging it this harshly, I will still admit to this sequel being better than most other horror films but it pales in comparison to the original or 2013's truly great horror film, The Conjuring.

Patrick Wilson (Little Children) and Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids) return as married couple Josh and Renai who are still being haunted by an evil spirit they believed to have been residing in their previous residence.

The couple and their three children have moved in with Josh's mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey - Black Swan) who perhaps knows more of the evil spirit than previously believed. As their trusted medium died in the last film (Lin Shaye - Kingpin), they are left to remembrances of her and to her assistants who survived the last encounter to steer them correctly this time.

I give the filmmakers credit for continuing the same storyline they began -- without becoming distracted by odd tangents ala the Paranormal films -- but this film simply isn't as thrilling or scary.

The victims in this film are the audience as this sequel is a letdown.