Reviewed by Allie Schembra
From the famed horror team of director
James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw) and writer Leigh Whannell (Saw,
Saw 2) Insidious Chapter 2 is a spine-tingling follow up to
Insidious. Beginning immediately after the events in the
first film, Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson), his wife, Renai (Rose
Byrne) and his mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), all reprise their
roles from the original film. As the Lambert family heads back into
The Further to uncover secrets from the past, they must rely on
familiar allies to exile the demons that follow them and unearth the
secrets before the evil takes over.
Film (4 out of 5 stars)
In 1986, Carl, a paranormal
investigator calls upon his friend, Elise, to help him figure out
what is wrong with a young Josh Lambert. After questioning Josh and
realizing the evil that lurks near him, Elise tells his mother,
Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), she can suppress Josh’s ability to
commune with the dead. 25 years later, in the aftermath of the coma
Josh’s (Patrick Wilson) son, Dalton was in, Elise has died and
Josh’s wife, Renai (Rose Byrne) is answering questions in the
police station.
When Lorraine visits, strange things
are still happening and she and Renai begin seeing things. Josh
doesn’t seem to be too concerned, as he is trying to deal with what
has happened. Lorraine meets with Elise’s partners,
Specs and Tucker and after viewing the footage from when Josh was
small, they call Carl to help them figure out what happened. During
a séance, Elise leads Specs, Turker, Lorraine and Carl to the
hospital where Lorraine used to work. Lorraine recounts the story of
a patient, Parker Crane, who committed suicide and the group finds
his records, which lead the group to Crane’s home. After learning
the secrets of Parker Crane and his mother, Lorraine and the men
return to Josh’s home in order the help the family.
Lorraine warns Renai that Josh is
dangerous and going to hurt her and the children and they leave.
After they leave, Carl enters the house to talk to Josh. He is
overpowered, as are Specs and Tucker when they try to help. Lorraine
and Renai receive a message that all is okay at home and when they
return, are attacked by Josh. Josh locks Lorraine in a closet and
begins choking Renai. Dalton hits his father with a baseball bat and
he, Renai and Foster escape and hide in the basement. Dalton says he
can find his father if he falls asleep and returns to The Further.
In The Further, the Josh finds Elise
and Carl and together, they find the answers they were seeking.
After defeating Parker’s mother in The Further, Dalton finds his
father and Carl and brings them back. Carl, once again, performs the ritual
to make Josh, and now Dalton forget, and their lives go on. The movie ends with Specs and Tucker
arriving at a home and after knocking on the door, saying they have a
message from Allison. Little do they realize Elise is with them.
She goes in the house to talk to Allison and as she looks over
Allison’s shoulder, she is frightened by something. Cue title card
and set up for a possible third chapter.
I’ve been putting off watching this
movie so I could watch it during the daytime, when I wouldn’t be
such a baby, but I just don’t have enough hours of daylight to do
that. So, I sucked it up and watched it at night. I love scary
movies and am always willing to watch them, but when it comes to
movies that mess with your dreams, I am not a fan. Before I started
watching, I actually had to look up the summary of the first one,
because I did not remember much about it. After reading the summary,
I was all ready to watch. I don’t remember if I liked the first
one… I am assuming that since I don’t remember much about it, I
just thought it was okay. Insidious Chapter 2, however, is a
movie I will remember – especially when I go to bed and have to let
the dog up on the bed to protect me and sleep with the lights on.
Video (4 out of 5 stars)
Insidious Chapter 2 is presented
in 2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and all the colors are sharp. The
blacks are a true black and everything blends well together. Much of
the movie is filmed in the dark, but each color was still seen
clearly. When characters or ghosts were running around in the
background and things were popping out at you, you could see them as
clearly as the filmmakers intend the viewer to see them.
Audio (3 ½ out of 5 stars)
The sound for Insidious Chapter 2
was good. I didn’t need to adjust the volume at any point.
Whispers were clear and dialogue through the baby monitor, speakers
or other items were clear and I didn’t need to rewind the scene and
watch it again just to try to hear what was said. The creepy music
was a bit distracting, but I understand that was part of the essence
of the movie. Insidious Chapter 2 is presented in English
and Spanish 5.2 Dolby Digital with the option of subtitles in
English, English SDH and Spanish.
Extras (3 out of 5 stars)
There's not very many special features included but I thought that the ones that were added were interesting.
- Peripheral Vision: Behind the Scenes – A behind-the-scenes look at the movie and how the story evolved from the first movie to the second. If you’ve seen both movies, you will see where things in the second explain some events of the first. The featurette includes background on the special effects, costuming, props, location and set design.
- Ghostly Transformations – This is a look at how the special effects crew and hair and makeup staff created the ghosts in the movie. It talks about the difference between the ghosts in The Further and the ghosts in the house. It shows how the staff transformed Patrick Wilson and aged him.
- Previews – Previews for the movies Pompeii, Cold Comes the Night, Ice Soldiers, Last Vegas, Elysium and Insidious.
I am a big fan of most types of horror
movies. There are few horror movies that actually scare me.
Insidious Chapter 2 freaked me out. I would like to go back
and watch the first Insidious again, so I can remember what
happened and how it all started. As I watched Chapter 2, I
remembered bits and pieces of the first one. Insidious Chapter 2
is a good movie for a dark and stormy night when you want to be
scared.
Order your copy today!
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