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Sunday, September 15, 2013

Insidious: Chapter 2 - Review

Insidious: Chapter 2 continues to follow the Lambert family as they try to uncover all the secrets causing them to still be trapped within a spirit world.


Let me just start off by asking this simple question: How is it that the MPAA gave The Conjuring an R-rating for being simply "too scary," but they let Insidious 2 slip by with a PG-13?
I don't scare easy at all and I found this movie to be one of the scariest things I have ever seen. I really liked the first Insidious because it scared me and I never get scared so I was excited for the sequel. Not only did the sequel not disappoint on its own, but the intensity level was seriously amped up for this one. The anxiety level is insane.

It pretty much picks up right where the first movie left off, but it also gives more background on Josh (Patrick Wilson) and how his childhood allowed the spirits in to begin with.You soon realize that the black bride from the first has continued to follow the Lamberts, specifically Josh.
The thing that got me was this movie wasn't really about Dalton or the other two kids. The first movie was primarily about Dalton, of course, and his unexplained coma. This one had Dalton and he played a key role but it wasn't too inclusive. The main characters by far were Josh, Renai (Rose Byrne), Elise (Lin Shaye), and Lorraine (Barbara Hershey)

As far as the actual acting goes I thought Patrick Wilson knocked it out of the park, especially at the end. I don't want to spoil anything but he takes himself to a whole other level. That isn't saying the rest of the cast wasn't good as well because they were. The only one I couldn't get into was the kid who plays Foster, but I didn't like him in the first one either. I thought Carl (Steve Coulter) was a nice addition to the cast. 
Directing is another story. James Wan has given us another great horror film and he pulled out all the stops. He didn't utilize cheap scares and as he did in The Conjuring, he built a great atmosphere and relied on his characters and their development. I find myself getting more into the creepiness of a movie when I am connected to the characters and Wan does a great job with doing just that. He sucks his audience in and doesn't let them go, even when the credits start rolling. I applaud you, Mr. Wan. Please don't stop making horror films.


Without giving anything away, I just would like to say this movie scared me. I do not scare easily and hardly at all, so I mean it. I jumped, I gasped, and I even had a moment where I screamed. I found Insidious: Chapter 2 very intriguing and it was a great horror movie. It would go far enough to say it was scarier than The Conjuring, but I didn't find that one terrifying. I loved The Conjuring because it was a great film and while it was creepy, it didn't scare me to the bone. Insidious 2 did and it did so even more than the first one. Big thumbs up.

Don't let the PG-13 rating and the bad reviews fool you, guys. It's a great horror movie.










* You can see more Insidious: Chapter 2 at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights as they present Insidious: Into the Further. Information can be found here.
After seeing this movie I don't think I would step foot in that haunted maze. Just saying.

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