“Insidious: Chapter 2,” the much hyped second installment to the 2010 hit, “Insidious” picks up right where the first one left off and while it may not be as scary as the first movie, “Chapter 2” is a worthy successor that rivals the original.

At the end of “Insidious” Josh (Patrick Wilson) returned from the Further, the spirit world, where he rescued his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins). However the paranormal occurrences that were plaguing the Lambert family are far from over as it becomes clear to Renai (Rose Byrne) that a malevolent spirit accompanied Josh back into the real world. Along with the help of Josh’s mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), and paranormal experts Specs (Leigh Whannel) and Tucker (Angus Simpson) the family attempts to ward off a murderous spirit that has unknown ties to Josh’s childhood.

What I loved most about this sequel is that it was a true continuation from the first movie. The mythology introduced in the first movie is expanded upon and the premise is highly original. It’s not just your run of the mill haunted house fare. Many times horror sequels are just a rehash of the previous movie featuring a whole new cast (see the Final Destination saga for example) with a number slapped on the end designed to cash in on name recognition.

‘Tis not the case here with the entire principal cast from the first movie returning. How the screenplay intertwines the two movies and ties everything back together is a piece of nifty piece of screenplay writing. This does mean, however, that if you weren’t a fan of the direction the first movie went in chances are you will not enjoy this follow up as it is very continuity-heavy from the first.

While the movie never reaches the scare heights of the first movie, the atmosphere is tense and contains a genuine thread of mystery throughout the running time. The malevolent woman in white is believably threatening and provides most of the scares in the movie. The movie provides some interesting set pieces such as an abandoned hospital and a particularly crafty “subplot” involving calling spirits with dice culminates in a “hair raising” pay off.

The cast, remarkably, shines. The performances are good. The cast is actually underutilized as they all bring gravitas to their respective roles.

Seeing as Insidious 3 has already been greenlit this is not the end of the saga for the paranormal ghost hunters (to the surprise of no one), this seems to be the new yearly horror series. There’s no telling how the quality with suffer with each subsequent entry, but “Insidious: Chapter 2” is a worthy follow up to the first that actually expands on the story introduced in “Insidious” and is not just a name-only sequel.

Jason Wisenbaker
Copy Editor