By Robbie Jones
Insidious 2 is scaring the box office. But is it worth watching?
I really didn’t like Insidious. My lovely friend Anna wanted to see this for her birthday and I hadn’t even seen Part One so I thought I’d pop it on the day before. Yes, I couldn’t stand it; it was boring, not scary and just very slow. I know I’m alone with that opinion, but it did nothing for me. So you can imagine how much I was dreading this one. But you know what? It was pretty damn good.
If you haven’t watched the first movie, there are spoilers.
Insidious 2 is scaring the box office. But is it worth watching?
I really didn’t like Insidious. My lovely friend Anna wanted to see this for her birthday and I hadn’t even seen Part One so I thought I’d pop it on the day before. Yes, I couldn’t stand it; it was boring, not scary and just very slow. I know I’m alone with that opinion, but it did nothing for me. So you can imagine how much I was dreading this one. But you know what? It was pretty damn good.
If you haven’t watched the first movie, there are spoilers.
The film starts with a flashback to 1986, as a young Josh Lambert is visited by Elise, a paranormal investigator who believes something is wrong with Josh as he is having trouble with the lady in lipstick that killed Elise at the end of the first film. Her and a colleague, Carl, find out that Josh has a talent for Astral Projecting in his sleep. Following a game of hot and colder with Elise, he stands up and begins to talk to someone, and then points towards a door which opens on command. Back to present day, and Renai (Rose Byrne) is being interviewed by police following the death of Elise, who suspect Josh is the killer. The family move into Josh’s (Patrick Wilson) mother’s house in an attempt to escape the ordeal they faced previously, but things only get worse...
Mark Kermode describes the films as horror films for non-horror fans, and I completely agree. The cinema was full of people who merely laughed, used their phone or just talked all the way through it. But my friends and I were all gripped into the movie and it was pretty damn good. Like most horror films, the script is a bit dodgy in places, but it’s actually very smart. A lot of loose ends from part one are tied up and when they are, you sit there and say “that’s clever,” nodding at anyone around you.
(Unless you go alone, in which case, you just smile to yourself).
Mark Kermode describes the films as horror films for non-horror fans, and I completely agree. The cinema was full of people who merely laughed, used their phone or just talked all the way through it. But my friends and I were all gripped into the movie and it was pretty damn good. Like most horror films, the script is a bit dodgy in places, but it’s actually very smart. A lot of loose ends from part one are tied up and when they are, you sit there and say “that’s clever,” nodding at anyone around you.
(Unless you go alone, in which case, you just smile to yourself).
Now, I’m not easy to scare. But sitting with three girls and a boy who doesn’t like horror films, I knew I’d be surrounded by constant jumping. Matter of fact, one of them had a cardigan over their face the entire time. It is a tension building film, using the “Quiet quiet quiet quiet BANG” method most horror films use nowadays, and that’s what convinced me that it wouldn’t be scary. But never the less, it still managed to make me hit the ceiling a few times. Not to mention the characters in this are some of the creepiest ever seen, especially Josh.
At the end of the first film, Josh had brought a demon back with him from the further and was possessed, something that carries on in this film in a performance that mirrors Jack Nicholson in The Shining. He really was fantastic in this film, giving a genuinely scary performance, and Rose Byrne was great too. But despite the nail biting tension and jump scares, Tucker and Specs (Elise’s assistants from the first film) provided some well needed comic relief, and had everyone in the cinema laughing
A problem with the first film was that it thought it was smarter than it actually was. This time, it was incredibly smart. Well done to James Wan for being able to release two horror films within a month of each other, and both receiving decent reviews (I hear The Conjuring is very scary). Whilst Insidious to me felt like a rip off of Poltergeist, Chapter 2 is very original, and refreshing.
If you liked Insidious, you’re gonna love this. If you didn’t like Insidious, then this will change your mind and give you hope for the upcoming third part. With great cast, good scares and a smart plot, Insidious: Chapter 2 is a film well worth paying for, and whilst I worried that it would be £8 I’d never get back, I got my money’s worth.
4 Stars
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At the end of the first film, Josh had brought a demon back with him from the further and was possessed, something that carries on in this film in a performance that mirrors Jack Nicholson in The Shining. He really was fantastic in this film, giving a genuinely scary performance, and Rose Byrne was great too. But despite the nail biting tension and jump scares, Tucker and Specs (Elise’s assistants from the first film) provided some well needed comic relief, and had everyone in the cinema laughing
A problem with the first film was that it thought it was smarter than it actually was. This time, it was incredibly smart. Well done to James Wan for being able to release two horror films within a month of each other, and both receiving decent reviews (I hear The Conjuring is very scary). Whilst Insidious to me felt like a rip off of Poltergeist, Chapter 2 is very original, and refreshing.
If you liked Insidious, you’re gonna love this. If you didn’t like Insidious, then this will change your mind and give you hope for the upcoming third part. With great cast, good scares and a smart plot, Insidious: Chapter 2 is a film well worth paying for, and whilst I worried that it would be £8 I’d never get back, I got my money’s worth.
4 Stars
Follow Robbie on Twitter!
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