Insidious: Chapter 2
James Wan
The story: In the first film, Insidious (2011), Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) had to free their young son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) from demonic possession. The sequel picks up soon after the family relocate to live with Josh’s mother (Barbara Hershey). Before long, strange things are happening again and ghostly figures appear.

There is a new master of horror and his name is James Wan. From the grisly Saw franchise to supernatural flicks Insidious and The Conjuring (2013), the Australian film-maker has a knack for, well, conjuring scares, and box-office hits, from modest budgets. Hollywood producers must love him.
His high productivity is another factor in his favour. Insidious: Chapter 2 hits screens just two months after The Conjuring.
Those who missed the first instalment need not worry. A police interview with Renai gives a quick summary of what happened previously.
Here, Wan’s grab-bag of tricks includes creaking doors, sudden loud noises and discordant music. Not exactly new but he does a decent job of maintaining a suspenseful, creepy atmosphere.
Some of it is in the set-up. When Josh and Renai’s two young boys are shown playing with a tin-can telephone, you just know, and hence anticipate, that the innocuous object will turn up again in some eerie scenario. The prop is used another time, albeit in a different context and hence, in a less expected manner.
Wan also plays with your expectations in other ways. In the case of a piano that seems to be playing itself, the reason is not as sinister as one might imagine.
There is also some interesting time-looping going on here. The film opens with video footage of a young Josh as he is questioned by a medium trying to find out what is haunting him. Events unfolding in the present eventually shed light on what takes place in that video.
In addition to the child-in-peril plot carried over from the first film, scriptwriter Leigh Whannell (Saw, 2004, and Insidious) adds another layer of unease. Is Josh who he says he is or has he been possessed by some malevolent force?
The cast is competent, from Rose Byrne (I Give It A Year, 2013) as the frazzled wife and mother, to Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, 2009) as the increasingly maniacal Josh. There are also some tension- relieving comic moments, courtesy of ghostbusting duo Specs (Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson).
As the title suggests, and the ending confirms, Wan and Whannell are not quite ready to close the book on this horror tale yet.
(ST)