Insidious: Chapter 2 (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
'Insidious: Chapter 2' (directed again by James Wan) picks up right after the conclusion of 'Insidious', a spooky, if overwhelmingly average horror break-out hit from 2011 that created a sympathetic family besieged by malevolent forces from Beyond. There was some ingenuity & a fair share of jolts along the way. In this film, although the child in the family, Dalton (Ty Simkins), is now free from the "Further", the psychic (Lin Shaye) who facilitated his great escape is now dead and Dalton's father, Josh (Patrick Wilson), is trapped with a demonic creature having taken possession of his body.
Josh's woeful wife, Renai (Rose Byrne), realizes that something isn't quite right {duhh}, but it's left to Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), to figure out exactly what's happening here. So the whole point of this film is to free Josh from the "Further". This involves A LOTTTT of stumbling around in dark with blue fluorescent flashlights, creeping around old decrepit rooms/hallways, & taking lengthy flashbacks to the past. Mehh.
One of the major problems I have with 'Insidious: Chapter 2' is that it lacks tension (the meandering pace in the middle of the film doesn't help). Furthermore, the 'scares' aren't even that great. As is typical with haunted house(s) stories such as this, there are a few too many "boo!" moments, and far too few genuine thrills & chills. Horror movies are supposed to be, you know ... scary. They're supposed to be suspenseful. What they're not supposed to be is narratively incoherent, repetitive, and/or boring. And this film has too much of those latter terms. Where are the Shinings, the Rosemary's Babys, the Halloweens, hell, the Conjurings!?
Whereas a child was in peril in the 1st film, it is the father in peril this time ... and that's not as compelling. And by having that be, I felt shortchanged of a typically sturdy characterization by Patrick Wilson. For most of the running time, he's a 1-dimensional bad guy who's haunted. And none of the other characters get to do ANYTHING special, either. The character of Renai is marginalized. All poor Rose Byrne has to do is look upset, startled, & get knocked-around by mean-Patrick Wilson. Barbara Hershey gets to look distressed -- ooooh, scarewwy. And Lin Shaye, the psychic who got strangled in the 1st film, can't save this movie, either.
Now, there ARE a few inspired moments late in the game. There are demons that inhabit human bodies for the sole purpose of murder -- liked that, a lot. And there's a freaky-deaky 'other' dimension that exists btwn. life & death where spirits become trapped (and they all wear crazy make-up, enhancing an eerie bygone era). So with that said, 'Insidious: Chapter 2' is not a godawful movie. It's not the worst horror movie out there. But it IS disappointing. Much to my chagrin, the cliffhanger ending seems to infer that there will be yet another 'Insidious' movie. And really, that's because these films make great $$ on the opening weekend (and ONLY the opening weekend) of its release, & the budget is tiny. So yeah, Chapter 3 is well on its way.
Josh's woeful wife, Renai (Rose Byrne), realizes that something isn't quite right {duhh}, but it's left to Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), to figure out exactly what's happening here. So the whole point of this film is to free Josh from the "Further". This involves A LOTTTT of stumbling around in dark with blue fluorescent flashlights, creeping around old decrepit rooms/hallways, & taking lengthy flashbacks to the past. Mehh.
One of the major problems I have with 'Insidious: Chapter 2' is that it lacks tension (the meandering pace in the middle of the film doesn't help). Furthermore, the 'scares' aren't even that great. As is typical with haunted house(s) stories such as this, there are a few too many "boo!" moments, and far too few genuine thrills & chills. Horror movies are supposed to be, you know ... scary. They're supposed to be suspenseful. What they're not supposed to be is narratively incoherent, repetitive, and/or boring. And this film has too much of those latter terms. Where are the Shinings, the Rosemary's Babys, the Halloweens, hell, the Conjurings!?
Whereas a child was in peril in the 1st film, it is the father in peril this time ... and that's not as compelling. And by having that be, I felt shortchanged of a typically sturdy characterization by Patrick Wilson. For most of the running time, he's a 1-dimensional bad guy who's haunted. And none of the other characters get to do ANYTHING special, either. The character of Renai is marginalized. All poor Rose Byrne has to do is look upset, startled, & get knocked-around by mean-Patrick Wilson. Barbara Hershey gets to look distressed -- ooooh, scarewwy. And Lin Shaye, the psychic who got strangled in the 1st film, can't save this movie, either.
Now, there ARE a few inspired moments late in the game. There are demons that inhabit human bodies for the sole purpose of murder -- liked that, a lot. And there's a freaky-deaky 'other' dimension that exists btwn. life & death where spirits become trapped (and they all wear crazy make-up, enhancing an eerie bygone era). So with that said, 'Insidious: Chapter 2' is not a godawful movie. It's not the worst horror movie out there. But it IS disappointing. Much to my chagrin, the cliffhanger ending seems to infer that there will be yet another 'Insidious' movie. And really, that's because these films make great $$ on the opening weekend (and ONLY the opening weekend) of its release, & the budget is tiny. So yeah, Chapter 3 is well on its way.