Insidious : Chapter 2 Review

It's been a whole month since I've seen this film, but there's things about it I just have to write down. 

Insidious : Chapter 2 is the 2013 sequel to 2010's popular horror film Insidious, both directed by James Wan and written by his longtime collaborator Leigh Whannell, who not only wrote and made the first Saw film with Wan, but also starred in Saw opposite Cary Elwes and and stars in these films as Specs. The main cast is Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbra Hershey, Ty Simpkins, And Lin Shaye all reprising their roles from the first film. 

The premise of the sequel unfortunately cannot be told without spoiling the first film, but it's one of the points I want to bring up. The new film begins right where the last film left off, when Renai finds Elise dead and suspects Josh, who had been in the room with her before. But when he shows up, he convinces her that he has no idea who killed her and they decide to stay at his mother's house for awhile. This is where the hauntings that happened previoulsly begin to plague the family once again and Josh's mother Lorraine decides to call Elise's old partner Carl, as well as her assistants Specs and Tucker to find out why the hauntings are continuing.

The film as a whole is story driven, so much so that I think this is the reason it's not as scary as the original or even Wan's other successful film The Conjuring. When the film's trailer was first released, it puzzled me because it had no indication that Josh was still possessed, but thanks to the opening picking up right where it left off, I wasn't confused. Patrick Wilson really is a talented actor, who up to this point in his career, was known for mostly charming characters, but his portrayal of a possessed Josh is a complete 360 to his kind and protective Josh. He also seems to relish the fact that he can act as nasty as he wants to toward his family and it shows. 

The story itself is a very creative one, giving a lot of backstory to the spirit that has possessed Josh and and how Josh's gift of Astral Projection as a child shaped the decisions made in the future, including time traveling in the astral plane, while another creative idea was never explained well. 

The scares in this film mostly suffer for the sake of story, as they weren't anything new and weak comparing to the extreme scares I experienced in The Conjuring (which I can't help comparing it to as it was released before Insidious 2.) 

Praise of course goes to Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne as Renai, who knows something's wrong and doesn't back down when possessed Josh tells her to, Barbra Hershey, who goes to great lengths to save her son and his family while endangering her life, and to new cast member Steve Coulter as Elise's old partner Carl, who's knowledge on the plane equalled Elise and had an impressive technique in using dice to communicate with spirits, which made up most of the suspense in the film. I also have to give praise to Ty Simpkins, who's role as Dalton made the first film great and while he's not seen as much, whenever he's on screen he commands attention on his character who feels something wrong in the house and with his father, with whom he shares his gift.

While not a great horror film, I recommend it as it is a good story that helps to answer some of the first film's questions, although it makes more questions that are never answered. But it's been announced that a third film will be made soon and while Josh's story is complete, it may finally answer more questions. 

As an added bonus, I have to mention Patrick Wilson again as not only is he one  of my favorite actors, but he was even nice to actually send me a happy birthday tweet at the insistence of one of my friends. I hope that he continues to make good work in films and continue to gain recognition.