Review: Insidious: Chapter 2

James Wan’s INSIDIOUS scarred the crap out of me, and continues to do so with every viewing. Sure, the luster of the first time has worn off, but the shit in the house with the baby monitor and the kid’s room, and even Darth Maul showing up behind Patrick Wilson’s head has me jumping out of my skin each and every time. Especially after a few beers and watching it alone in the dark. Also, I’m a huge fan of Wan’s THE CONJURING, which had similarities to INSIDIOUS but ended up being scarier and a better movie overall. Least to say, INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 was high on my most anticipated movies list for Fall 2013… so did it live up to my wildly out-of-proportioned expectations? Let’s find out.

According to IMDb, CHAPTER 2 goes a little something like this: The haunted Lambert family seeks to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.

CHAPTER 2 is not nearly as good as THE CONJURING nor does it live up to the quality of INSIDIOUS, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a decent little scare flick. Wan has mastered the haunted house movie by this point, so CHAPTER 2 is more of the same when it comes to immaculately showcasing a giant creepy house, spooky ghost ladies dressed in white with clown-like make-up, and of course, the man has mastered the art of the Jump Scare. But whereas INSIDIOUS and THE CONJURING presented all of the above as fresh, new, and exciting (not to mention those Jump Scare coming off as legit), CHAPTER 2 presents it all with an air of clichéd redundancy, making it all feel like a formula Wan plugs in when he’s in haunted house mode.  And while the Jump Scares are plentiful in CHAPTER 2, they’re all very cheap… though not as cheap as other movies, but cheap for Wan and company.

I say “and company” because this is another movie from producer Jason Blum, who at this point has mastered the art of the haunted house movie involving children, with other hits like the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY movies (PART 3 is the bomb, yo!), SINISTER, DARK SKIES, and of course, INSIDIOUS. And speaking of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, Oren Peli (the director of the first PA) is on board CHAPTER 2 as a producer as well. So what the hell does all this mean? Basically, CHAPTER 2 is what you would expect these guys to come up, yet it doesn’t push the envelope or raise the bar in any way.

This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy CHAPTER 2, because I did. A lot. I really dug how it’s a continuation  of the first movie and not just a re-tread of the same storyline, which they could have easily done by focusing on one of the other kids in the house.  The film starts off the second after the first film ends (we even get the FRIDAY THE 13^TH style re-cap of the first movie sequence to remind people where we’re at here) and so we get to see what the next chapter of the story is for this family. I love the Wan’s knack for providing a creepy atmosphere and set pieces (and how he can make any house look and feel haunted as fuck), and I like that there’s even bigger ties to the first movie than you could possible think of, including some time travel shit straight out of  BACK TO THE FUTURE PART 2. In the sense of the story and the continued focus and exploration of The Further, CHAPTER 2 is great. I dug all that stuff from INSIDIOUS and was glad they kept it up with this one.

The part that was less than awesome (but again, still pretty good) was how over-the-top the whole thing was. The performances by the two main leads were turned up to 11, where Rose Byrne looked overly terrified in every scene she’s in, and Patrick Wilson was over-acting up the wazoo. And while it works here, it add to the flick’s overall comedic tone. Not that it’s played for comedy, but it’s so over-the-top that it ends up being quite funny. Lin Shaye returns as Elise, and she even comes back as a younger version of herself, which was executed quite well.  The return of the two paranormal investigators (including co-writer Leigh Whannell) provides the most comic relief, but really the whole movie is comic relief. It’s as if Wan was too bogged down with serious scares after doing THE CONJURING that he decided he’d let loose and add a bunch of silly lines and goofy juxtaposition to keep the tone down a notch.

I can’t say I blame the dude for that decision and I can’t say that I didn’t like it either, but if you’re looking for the seriousness of INSIDIOUS or THE CONJURING, you won’t find it here. Though the film does present it all seriously and takes itself seriously… but not too seriously. It’s kind of odd that way, but I think it works… mostly.

I guess the biggest downer for the film is that there are no particularly memorable scenes or scare sequences. There are plenty of Jump Scares and creepy shit to go around, but upon reflection of the film afterwards, there wasn’t one scene where I was like “holy shit, that scene was crazy!”, and in fact, I was somewhat hard pressed to think of any scene in particular that really stood out.

What it comes down to is this: INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 is a solid good time at the movies and maybe the perfect type of movie to see this Friday the 13^th. It won’t scare the piss out of you like its predecessor, but you’ll have a creepy fun time watching it. You’ll be spooked, you’ll jump, you’ll scream, and you’ll laugh the whole way through. Wan is still doing what he does best as a horror director, and I’d put CHAPTER 2 right there above the likes of DEAD SILENCE, but it doesn’t quite reach the INSIDIOUS or THE CONJURING level. Which means to say, it’s still better than most horror movies coming out these days. See it with a group and have a blast, or wait to see it at home (alone) in the dark… either way, you’ll apt to have a good time.

GRADE: B-