Alyssa Aldrete | Inscape Editor
It turns out, James Wan is not finished scaring us just yet.
Following the success of his previous release, “The Conjuring,” the Australian director presented “Insidious: Chapter 2” to an eager audience, conveniently on the most unlucky day of the year.
Despite the looming curse, the film debuted at the number one spot during its opening weekend, raking in an estimated $41 million.
The eerie tale, intended as a direct continuation from its predecessor, puts us right back into the cursed life of the Lambert family, this time
investigating the origin of the issue even deeper than the first time.
Josh (Patrick Wilson) has made his way back from “the Further” after saving his son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), from the entities that had taken him captive during slumber.
Dalton and Josh, along with his wife Renai (Rose Byrne), and their infant daughter Calli have now taken up residence with Josh’s mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), but appear to still be dealing with the entities from “the Further.”
The first half of the film presents a few disappointments, such as the cliché dramatic scores during every suspenseful moment, the presence of a lot more comic relief than before (although it eases the nail-biting apprehension, in this case it distracts from how terrifying the rest of the film is intended to be), and the majority of the film’s plot being ripped straight from the pages of “The Amityville Horror” and “The Shining.”
This time around, there is not a lot of time spent in the astral projection phase, which slightly diminishes the entire point of the film.
However, Wan and his cast make up for these setbacks as the film progresses.
Wilson delivers an intense performance of an extremely complex character, Simpkins lets his own maturity bleed through the deliverance
of his performance, and Byrne gives another emotional portrayal of a stressed, terrified mother and wife (when she isn’t getting knocked around by entities from “the Further”).
The film is more of an investigative tying up of lose ends than anything, and Wan does so an intelligent way that the audience cannot predict.
Released right on the cusp of fall, “Insidious: Chapter 2” induces the same goose bumps as the crisp wind will in the months to come.
On Sept. 16, screenwriter Leigh Whannell announced that he has signed on to pen an unnecessary third installment of the film series, via Variety magazine.
Through what should have been the first and only sequel, Wan makes sure, once again, that you leave the theater looking over your shoulder and eager to head home and get to bed – just make sure not to fall into too deep of a sleep.