Film review: Insidious: Chapter 2 (7 out of 10)

The first Insidious was a very decent horror movie, although it did take some time to introduce the characters and get going.

Chapter 2 is much more enjoyable and gets into the action from the beginning, starting as it does where the first one left off.

The story revolves around the Lambert family who are haunted by a group of unpleasant characters from a place between life and death called The Further.

We discovered in chapter one (2010) that the father Josh (Patrick Wilson) and son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) can visit The Further when they sleep, leaving their bodies in the normal world.

Josh managed to rescue Dalton from The Further but in this new chapter someone rather unpleasant has apparently travelled into our world and starts terrorising the Lamberts once again.

Director James Wan has quite a reputation for serving up shocks as he’s given us The Conjuring, Dead Silence and Saw.

Insidious: Charpter 2 possibly doesn’t have as many shock moments as its predecessor but there are enough to keep most people on edge.

What I did enjoy was the way the story links up with events in the first movie. For instance, you find out who the mysterious person was who was knocking on the Lamberts’ front door and set the alarm off.

There’s some good acting once again from Wilson and Rose Byrne as his wife Renai and Barbara Hershey (as Josh’s mum) is always a class act.

The two paranormal experts Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) provide the comic relief again.

There will obviously be more ‘chapters’ in the saga, the ending leaves us in no doubt, though the story may well head off in a slightly different direction.

Film details: Insidious: Chapter 2 (15) 106mins

Director: James Wan

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey

Screening courtesy of Cineworld Crawley