Insidious: Chapter 2 
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye, Steve Coulter, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Ty Simpkins, Danielle Bisutti
Directed by: James Wan
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 105 mins
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Opens September 13th
By Lisa Minzey of The Reel Critic.com
Hey Phoenix Horror Film Fans! Opening this week is the sequel to the 2010 hit “Insidious”, bringing the cast back for more screams, thrills and chills. Director James Wan is quickly climbing the ranks as a master thriller with some of his other films such as this year’s “The Conjuring”, but how does this sequel stack up?
Kicking off hours after where the first film left off, Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) is being questioned by the police in her husband Josh ’s (Patrick Wilson) involvement in the murder of paranormal psychologist/psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye). If you recall from the first film, Elise was killed by one of the evil spirits when Josh (Patrick Wilson) was in the “dark side” on a search and rescue mission for his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins). For the moment, Renai, Josh their kids and Josh’s mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) are staying at his childhood home where the hauntings first originate with a young Josh.
When Josh came back out of the seance, Renai noticed that something wasn’t quite right as if she didn’t recognize her husband. Even Dalton noticed something was off with his dad. It appears that the hauntings followed Josh back into the real world, and their story wasn’t quite over. By returning to his childhood home, the original spirit that haunted Josh as a boy is back in full force conjuring up more evil and drama.
Elise was one of the original paranormal investigators that originally helped Josh as a boy, but now that she’s gone, Lorraine seeks out the assistance of one of the other investigators, Carl (Steve Coulter) to help bring this evil to an end, once and for all. Can they do it? Or is the evil spirits too strong for the group to overcome?
What Director James Wan has demonstrated in his catalogue of work and what he does so brilliantly is creating the tension and atmosphere of suspense versus using the gore, blood and guts to horrify make this so much more entertaining experience. Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell did a fantastic job of weaving plot point elements from the first film into the sequel to where it make sense why certain choices were made in the original film. By giving more backstory into the origins of the hauntings of Josh’s childhood and his psychic abilities, the story does a great job keeping the element of logic as a strong point. This film although not as scary as the first film, still does an excellent job of creating suspense and thrills that should please audiences. Be sure to check out “Insidious: Chapter 2” when it opens in theaters nationwide starting Friday September 13,2013.
