Insidious Chapter 2

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Insidious Chapter 2
Starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye
Directed by James Wan

Picking up right where the first film ended, the Lambert family - father Josh (Patrick Wilson), wife Renai (Rose Byrne) and their young children - feel that their ordeal is at an end.  The demon haunting them was defeated, their son was returned from the Further, and life can get back to normal - well, after the investigation of the suspicious death of psychic Elise (Lin Shaye) ends. 

Josh, Renai and their children stay with Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) while the police investigate their house, and to Renai's horror the terror isn't over, as she is haunted by a ghostly female presence.  Then she notices weird things about Josh, and begin to suspect that he didn't come back from the Further with just himself and their son.

Meanwhile, Lorraine and Elise's co-workers investigate the woman in the black wedding dress that's been haunting Josh since childhood, and with the help of Elise's old partner Carl (Steve Coulter), they uncover a shocking truth about the spirit and who she was in real life, and the connections between that and their family's haunting visions that have been going on since Josh was a young child.

I enjoyed the first "Insidious" until the final half of the film, with the revelation of the demon, who looked like a reject Darth Maul mask from a costume store.  Before its appearance the settings were so surreal and frightening, with amazing scares that don't just tease the audience but rather lead up to some pretty suspenseful moments.  James Wan is best known for this, especially after his critically acclaimed film "The Conjuring."

With "Chapter 2," the scares are again subtle but also sometimes very shocking, occurring at times you didn't think would happen.  Throw in an interesting premise to the original spirit and its back story and you've got a compelling film that many felt wasn't necessary, but if you pay attention to the film you'll see how it brilliantly connects to the original, bringing the whole story full circle.  Plus the performance of Danielle Bisutti as the female spirit is downright creepy and remarkable.

My Rating: A-

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