Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins
After a young boy named Dalton Lambert (Simpkins) is freed from possession by evil spirits, Elsie Rainer (Lyn Shae) is found dead and Dalton's father, Josh (Wilson), is suspected of killing her whilst also being possessed. As they begin to settle back into their daily lives, the Lambert family discover that the forces of darkness aren't quite finished with them yet.
With a highly-prolific rate of production, horror film director James Wan (who burst into the spotlight in 2005 with Saw) has become a distinctive film-maker within the horror genre, with his love of jump-scares and creepy dolls. Following the Saw franchise, Wan has seemingly moved onto a new series with Insidious, with the first eponymous film (released in 2011) bringing with a mixture of haunted house conventions and surreal horror. The film had its flaws in that it was derivative and (in common with much of Wan's work) melded intensity and surreality to the point of being ridiculous.
Insidious: Chapter 2 doesn't correct these problems, in fact it worsens them. Whilst the initial buildup lacks momentum or anything to maintain interest, when the horror does kick in, its done in such a way to evoke more titters than screams. The plot also leans heavily on other horror works, especially The Shining (1980) with its themes of personal possession steering a character towards insanity and the last act of the film has moments where you feel that all is missing is a child scribbling "Redrum" on a wall. There are some brights spots in that the film cleverly plays with its own narrative and even skips back to the initial Insidious in some truly impressive call-backs, and fortunately James Wan has tone down his irritating obsession with jump-scars and atonal piano chords. If you're in the mood for a horror film to make you laugh (and that does have its own kind of audience) than Insidious 2 is actually pretty good, but if that wasn't James Wan's intentions (and I'm speculating that it wasn't) then it has faltered.
Next time, we take a look into the extraordinary life of the world's most famous physicist in Hawking.
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