INSIDIOUS - Chapter 2

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 3:00pm

I obviously had to see it first thing this morning.

Overall, I did like it very much. Reviews are pretty mixed to negative (which is par for the course with horror) but if you liked the first one, which I loved, I think you'll enjoy this one. If you haven't seen part 1 in a while, I'd suggest watching it again since this picks up the same night that one ends and offers some really cool explanations for things that happened in it that you'll want to be able to remember clearly.

Chapter 2 for the most part kept me on the edge of my seat, much like the first one leaving you very little "down time" with no suspense/scares at all. Where the film falters though, is when it dips into PSYCHO/THE SHINING elements which seem to be way too obvious. That and the fact that towards the end it inexplicably takes a turn into one of the campiest and unintentionally hilarious scenes I've ever seen in any horror film playing it straight, are what kept me from liking this as much as Part 1. But James Wan is really proving himself to be a master at suspense in a way we haven't seen in years from a director. Usually a PG-13 rating will make horror fans roll their eyes, but when he's involved you can be sure there will be more than enough to scare the crap out of you.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 3:02pm

How do you think the ghosts/entities hold up to the first movie's? The smiley family and the little boy in the first movie creeped me out more than the demon.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 3:13pm

I think they for the most part held up pretty well, even if there's not as many. Chapter 1 is a better film on it's own, but really it's hard to judge them apart since this is just a continuation. I watched the first one again right before seeing this and really felt like I was just seeing one long movie.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 3:15pm

I don't understand some of the reviews of it. One overly-criticized it having a cliffhanger ending. The first one had one, too!

I'm excited for this. I'm hoping to see it some night this week.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 3:18pm

Seriously? Criticizing a horror film for having a cliffhanger ending is like criticizing a Meryl Streep movie for having good acting.

And this is called Chapter 2, for chrissake. They're telling you in the damn title there's going to be more of them.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 3:20pm

If we can have Paranormal Activity 5, we can have Insidious Chapter 3.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 5:36pm

My issue is that the story really didn't come into focus for me until the last 30 minutes. They were spinning their wheels for a long time rehashing the same plot elements just to add in more scares.

It was really scary. The style was right. I also really liked how the investigators and the mother got to carry a whole lot of the film on their own. The story reinvention worked really well. Now it's very clear that Wan/Whannel were responsible for connecting Saw II and III to the original film before being pushed to the side for the rest of the series.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 5:47pm

What did you think about the "bedroom scene" near the end? I was really on the verge of cracking up.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 9/13/13 at 6:36pm

My audience was laughing by that point. Between that and the basement break in, I couldn't hold it together any longer. It was fun to watch, but not for the reasons it was supposed to be.

I'm just so glad that James Wan and Leigh Whannell finally got to make the spiritual sequel to the intentionally campy horror comedy Dead Silence.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 9/23/13 at 12:22pm

I don't know where my comment went, or if you guys can see it even if I can't, but I'll recap.

As over-the-top as that bedroom scene was, I cringed more at the scene with Carl and fake-Josh. Patrick did the best he could with it, but it was definitely "Psycho, starring Jack Torrance".

I think the movie's biggest problem was giving the spirits too much story and way too much to say. I've seen the first movie a handful of times, and I can't tell you a story about every single spirit (apart from the smiley family). They just were there to be creepy and unsettling, and they were. Did we need this much story about Parker Crane and his mother? Did we need the mother behind the shower curtain arguing with her son? Frankly, did we need Elise back, with her "you don't belong here because you have a heartbeat"? They even tried to connect Josh in this movie to the creepy man in the first movie, and that just didn't work for me.

It was a good movie. I loved how they show a ghost in the corner of a room without making the score or other characters react to it. It's like an Easter egg for the audience. I love the antics of Specs and Tucker and wish they had a spin-off of sorts for them. I just thought there was too much story for the ghosts and not enough creepiness of the ghosts.