Movie Review: Insidious Chapter 2

I had the good sense to go to a double feature of the both movies back-to-back.  This helped keep the story coherent when there were references to things that happened in the previous movie.  The story is somewhat stretched in this sequel, unravelling as the movie went on.  The performances from the cast were quite decent, but the movie never drew you in as the first one did.

If you haven’t seen the first Insidious movie, you need to stop reading this review.  If you have, then you know that main character Josh, played by Patrick Wilson, went into a place in his mind to find his son before he was taken by a demon in the first movie.  Josh didn’t quite make it back to his own body and that is where the second movie starts off.  The story then devolves into Josh’s past and his astral presence as the two try to get him back in his body.

Unlike the first movie, the mild scares are watered down by the somewhat convoluted plot.  At times, the story jumps from the past, to the present to what happened in the first movie, jumping at intervals that can be confusing.  Wilson tries to play both Josh and the ghost possessing him to a very convincing end.  Rose Byrne as the wife is little more than a shrieking woman, not a great use for such a talented actress.  The kids were kids and less of them in horror movies would be nice.

The double-feature helped set the stage, but this movie pales in comparison to the original and is hardly worth the full-price evening fare.  I won’t say pass on it, but paying more than $10 for it is too much.