Review: Insidious Chapter 2

First off let me preface this by saying I'm not a big horror guy, I tend to enjoy plot devices and coherent storylines, something that modern day horrors tend to replace with a naked girl getting sliced for no good reason... Is Insidious Chapter 2 more of the same?

No. But before looking at that let me quickly update you on my background with Insidious... I seen it for the first time about 4-5 months ago... It wasn't memorable. I don't remember hating it, I don't remember liking it. Frankly if it wasn't for my girlfriend explaining the plot to me about a month ago which triggered my memory I'd be sitting here likely claiming I never watched it. So it's fair to say I went in with similar expectations as the first one.

Here's what Insidious 2 did though, it was less a horror movie then it was a thriller. I was sitting in the movie theatre cursing the cut away scenes meant to make you jump and be scared... It was getting in the way of what was a very intriguing story, and I, like the characters in the movie, wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on and these jolt scenes were more of a nuisance to me than it was a positive in the film.

Now horror fans are likely upset with the way this movie played out as really the final 2 acts or so have little in terms of "jump scares" but still has a creepiness that most supernatural horror's have. But it was very much story driven, which for me was a HUGE and I can not emphasize HUGE enough. The ending tied into the beginning of the film as well as into the original Insidious all the while keeping you captivated.

The performances go a long way for this movie as they offer the means for you to get transported into the movie, nothing was over the top and there was just enough tongue and cheek humour to remind yourself that for all the creepiness, Insidious 2 is not just a horror movie and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Overall Insidious 2 might be somewhat uneven as far as feeling, but by the end of the film you realize that this film is bolder and more ingenious than your average sequel, and I mean sequel in general, not just limiting this film to the horror genre cause again, I don't feel it was one.

I give Insidious Chapter 2: 4 Red Doors out of 5