Film Review: Insidious - Chapter 2

If you weren’t spooked by James Wan’s 2011 supernatural horror Insidious, you stand little chance of making sense of the self-referential sequel.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Sep 2013, 21:00 BST
Insidious 2 trailer (Screengrab)Insidious 2 trailer (Screengrab)
Insidious 2 trailer (Screengrab)

Screenwriter Leigh Whannell, co-creator of the bloodthirsty Saw films, reunites with director Wan to craft a mind-bending narrative sadly light on edge-of-seat shocks.

Chapter 2 continues directly after events of the first film and repeatedly throws back to unexplained phenomena from the opening chapter.

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The mood swings between suspense and comedy prove even more jarring in the second instalment courtesy of bumbling spectral investigators Specs and Tucker.

Insidious 2 trailer (Screengrab)Insidious 2 trailer (Screengrab)
Insidious 2 trailer (Screengrab)

When we last met Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) and his wife Renai (Rose Byrne), they had moved into a new house with their sons Dalton (Ty Simpkins) and Foster (Andrew Astor), where dark forces prevailed. Josh’s mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) invited her supernaturally gifted friend Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) to cleanse the property, aided by Specs and Tucker. In the ensuing battle between good and evil, Elise gave up her life to shepherd Josh and Dalton between the corporeal and spirit worlds.