Insidious: Chapter 2

Dir: James Wan

2013

***

I thought James Wan's 2010 Insidious was a somewhat original take on the classic haunted house scenario with a few cliches but mainly exploring new ideas. His 2013 follow up is, as you'd expect from a continuing story, more of the same. The impact of the first film is lost but the suspense, thrills and fun had in the first chapter is still present, as is the pesky ghost, who just can't seem to let the Lambert family go. This time however, the ghost in question has an extra dimension. Wan furthers ideas explored in the first film and comes up with some very clever ideas that cross time, space and the other place rather brilliantly. The big scares aren't as big however in the follow up and we do cover a lot of old ground. The humour doesn't always work either but the characters delivering the funnies are likable and so get away with it just. The real heart of the film's success is still Lin Shaye's Elise Rainer. How they worked her character back into the film here is fantastic and if the franchise is to remain, it will now always have to feature her for me to be interested. A solid, and above all, fun haunted house movie.