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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Insidious Chapter 2 DVD Review

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.
Summary (3 ½ out of 5 stars)

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.

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