Insidious Chapter 2 picks up right where the original left off and director James Wan adds another entry into his increasingly impressive horror movie resume. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey, Leigh Whannell, and Angus Sampson are also all back in the fold to reprise their roles from the first movie.
Following the super scary events of original Insidious movie, Josh and Renai Lambert (Wilson and Byrne) have moved the family to Josh's mother's house which is where we quickly learn that, even as a young boy, he had a few paranormal experiences. As they try to return to a normal life, it soon becomes apparent that not everything, or everyone is as they seem and before you know it, stuff starts moving around, creepy noises randomly start up, and visions of ghostly things begin appearing out of nowhere.
To help figure out what's really going on, Elise Rainier (Shaye) and her team of would be ghost busters once again swing into action. What they find out opens up some new mysteries as to why the Lambert family can't seem stay away from things that go bump in the night. As more of the backstory is revealed, everyone soon realizes that there may actually be a way to end the haunting altogether but they will need to explore far back into the family's past where secrets even scarier than what they have already experienced are waiting to resurface.
First, let me tell you that I did not like the first installment of this franchise so I really wasn't expecting a lot out of a sequel, but of course, I'm going to see it anyway. What I found with chapter 2 was a fairly similar story that does a good job at digging deep into the family's past to pull out some seriously twisted stuff, but what was most impressive was the volume of truly scary moments that kept the audience firmly planted on the edge of their collective seats.
With a roster of films that includes these two movies along with The Conjuring, and the first installment of the Saw franchise, there is no doubt that James Wan knows how to scare the crap out of everyone. His sense of knowing when to throw one of those jump-out-of-your-seat moments is spot on and he fills his movies with them better than anyone else out there right now. There are times this movie gets a little too silly for its own good but you won't really care because its just that kind of show. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne continue to do what they do and the solid supporting cast brings lots of expected exposition and some much needed comic relief at just the right moments.
I'm assuming there will be a chapter 3 and maybe a 4 and 5 depending on long audiences are willing to put up with this franchise, but I honestly feel it has as good a chance as any to go down that road. Insidious Chapter 2 is an improvement in every single way over the original and as long as Wan is behind the camera (Maybe not since he's taking over the Fast and Furious franchise), he should be able to keep us all gripping armrests and dumping popcorn for at least a while longer.
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