Directed By: James Wan

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Leigh Whannell, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins

Following on from one of the best horror movies of 2010, Insidious: Chapter 2 picks up right where the first movie left off. Heroic father Josh (Patrick Wilson) is back from the Further after taking on all sorts of horrific entities en route to rescuing his son (Ty Simpkins), but what exactly has the trip cost him? As he begins to act more and more strangely, it becomes clear that something’s not quite right.

The first instalment of this apparent franchise was a nauseating trip into the bizarre, coupling some immensely disturbing imagery (the mannequin-esque family massacre in the Further, for example, or the red faced demon peering out from behind Josh’s head) with a decent enough story to tie it all together. This continuation, however, feels like an altogether different story, replete with age-old retreads of spooky ghost brides, disturbed serial killers and possessions while simultaneously losing all of the creativity behind the scares.

The problem is that Insiduous: Chapter 2 isn’t quite sure what it wants to be. Is it a homage to The Shining, with a mad-eyed, murderous parent running around the house? Is it a classic, straight-up ghost story with slamming doors and thrown objects? Or is it, believe it or not, a time-travelling paranormal murder mystery? It tries to be all three, and simply ends up a disjointed mess.

The sound design is especially frustrating, since it seems to think that overlaying an audio sting that sounds remarkably like Lou Ferrigno wind-milling through an orchestra equates to somehow enhancing the experience for the viewer. It’s often so loud that it forces you to turn the volume down, at which point you can’t hear any of the dialogue in the following scenes. It’s just a pain in the arse and a sign of rushed, half-arsed horror film-making. It doesn’t help that the movie simply doesn’t have the same kind of startling imagery to accompany the thunderous racket, like the first film did.

The time-travelling sub-plot is bloody stupid, and opens up such a vast potential for logical inconsistencies that it’s almost impressive. How come you can travel into the past while you’re in the Further, and directly affect your future self? I mean, is this a film about ghosts or is it Bill & Ted’s Excellent fucking Adventure?

It seems pretty clear that writer-director James Wan and writer-actor Leigh Whannell pretty much spunked this one out on a tight schedule, which could explain the rushed feeling and poor script. The dialogue is almost cringe-worthy in it’s absurdity, with Patrick Wilson’s freshly mental dad at one point saying the sentence “It’s been so long since I felt real pain! I miss it… BUT NOT AS MUCH AS INFLICTING IT ON OTHERS!” before running crazily at his wife like some comic book villain.

On a positive note however, Whanell (on acting duties) and Angus Sampson return as the out-of-place parapsychologists Specs and Tucker,  who seem to be there only to provide some sort of bumbling comic relief amidst the otherwise morose tone.  It quickly becomes apparent that they’re the only interesting characters in the whole thing – which is especially telling considering how extraneous they are – and I’d like to see them return in a third film investigating other hauntings while delving into their friendship a little more. Actually, why don’t we go all the way into comedy horror in the next one? Get full-on Army of Darkness with this bitch?

As it stands though, Insidious: Chapter 2 is disappointing and very much a let down coming from a creative team of Wan and Whannell’s experience, and especially more so after it’s stellar predecessor.

1/5