Insidious: Chapter 2

by Oliver Layco

The first Insidious was a well done scary movie that didn’t rely on the gore factor to freak people out. It had good old fashioned jump scares and other old school elements. While it followed the basic haunted house story, it stood out for how well it was presented. The inevitable sequel was due to come out and while it succeeds in some areas, as a whole movie it doesn’t hold up to the first one. The entire cast is back for a second round and each of them plays their respective roles well. As for the story, it was actually fairly interesting for the most part. It picks up right after the end of the first one. Elise was murdered and Renai believes that her husband Josh was possessed by the lady in black and killed her. The family moves into Josh’s childhood home and we get some background as to Josh’s younger days and how this all started. As for the pace of the movie, it was standard as well; slow start, some scary stuff starts happening, then it picks up at a frenzied pace until the end. For the beginning it was sort of painstakingly slow, but once the main chunk of the movie started it went okay. As for the scares, there weren’t too many moments that made you jump that you couldn’t see coming. This could be because it kind of followed the same pattern as the first one where something would appear, they try to chase it, and then they turn around and it’s in your face. However, there were some comedic elements sprinkled throughout but they may not have been intentionally left like that. Overall, it gives a good attempt at a sequel but it ultimately falls short.