Like its 2010 predecessor, "Insidious 2" is often a haunted-house tale with supernatural elements. The common horror-movie tropes have reached play here: Creaky doors, creepy apparitions and long, dark hallways explored by flashlight. There's also a haunted piano that repeats the identical eerie melody and an outrageously loud and colorful baby walker that spontaneously fires up and moves around.
Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne return as Josh and Renai Lambert, well-meaning parents who moved in a new home after fearing their 4g iphone was haunted. Their eldest son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), has recovered at a mysterious coma (a reference to the very first film), but he's still affected by nightmares. He doesn't just see dead people; they demand something from him. When the frights become excessive for Renai, your family decides to stay with grandma for quite a while.
Lorraine Lambert (Barbara Hershey) continues to be through this type of thing before, when her own son, Josh, was haunted as a child. She knows who to call. Josh was treated by ghost specialists growing up, plus a flashback to his youth reveals more about the way to obtain his troubles.
Carl (Steve Coulter) is a serious ghost hunter, while his assistants, Specs (screenwriter Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), provide a lot of the comic relief, such as the always-amusing tranquilizer mishap.
Directed by James Wan ("The Conjuring," "Saw") at a story created by Wan and Whannell, "Insidious: Chapter 2" deftly juggles various responsibilities: It includes a fantastic dose of non-gory scares, tells an account of supernatural time travel that recalls components of "Inception," and pays homage towards the genre Wan and Whannell love. In a very tribute to its horror lineage, hunt for thematic and visual nods to "Pyscho," "Poltergeist" and "The Blair Witch Project" in "Insidious: Chapter 2."
The film is additionally self-aware and self-referential, rewarding viewers from the original film with additional explanations inside sequel. And, like its predecessor, "Chapter 2" leaves open the possibility of more into the future.
"Insidious: Chapter 2," a show District release, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of terror and violence, and thematic elements.
