Insidious: Chapter 2
(2013)
(SPOILERS) James Wan was quite busy last year, what with
having two fright flicks released and crossing over to the action genre to
begin shooting Fast & Furious 7
(only recently completed due to Paul Walker’s untimely demise). That he made
two horror pictures in a fairly short space of time (this and The Conjuring) speaks volumes about his
precise, methodical approach. Insidious:
Chapter 2 is a well made but cookie cutter affair, so formulaic and calculated
it’s difficult to get remotely worked up by it’s made-to-order shock tactics.
Everyone’s back, pretty much, including at least one dead
person (Lin Shaye as paranormal investigator Elise Rainier) and events pick up
directly after the first instalment, with Lorraine (Rose Byrne) being
interviewed by police about Elise’s murder. If that scene looks as if it might
send the picture in a less obvious direction (law enforcement and spooks), it
proves not to be. It’s clear that Josh (Patrick Wilson) is under suspicion, not
just from the police but also from Lorraine. But Wan and screenwriter (also
playing nerdy investigator Specs) Leigh Whannell promptly drop what could be an
interesting tack. The police investigations rule out Josh (somehow, the marks
on the corpse don’t match Josh’s hands) and Lorraine enters a state of
self-denial about what has happened to her hubby. Both developments are
disappointing; the pushing of the police to the periphery stains credulity, while
Byrne is very badly served with a character who spends most of the movie
wandering about her mother-in-law’s house all on edge and not seeing the
bleeding obvious.
Most of the Lambert family plot is treading water while
investigators Specs and Tucker (Angus Sampson), now accompanied by old friend
of Elise Carl (Steve Coulter), trace the background of whatever it is that has
been haunting Josh. Wan and Whannell dig deep into their bag of tricks, which
include Dutch angles, repeated (and increasingly tiresome) instances of
characters not seeing what another character sees (the old “There’s someone standing behind you”
line), variants on the same (oblivious Dalton – Ty Simpkins – doesn’t realise
he is not talking to his brother down the tin can telephone, even though its blatantly
obvious to us), quiet punctuated by sudden noise, nursery rhymes used to
sinister effect, children’s toys (this time a play walker) turning themselves
off and moving of their own accord. Horror movies work to a great extent on the
basis of tried-and-tested scares and devices, but they don’t have to be quite
so relentlessly blatant and undemanding. The picture has Josh being super sinister
and slowly decomposing (“Your dead soul
is killing his living skin”) and Lorraine terribly useless, until eventually
the investigators show up.
There is an
occasional nice idea, in amongst the clockwork plotting. The opening scene is
set in 1986, and places a mystery (who is young Josh speaking to on the video
playback) that has an effective WTF? pay off. The ability of Josh to time
travel in The Further is just about the only interesting aspect of this other
realm, which Wan seems to recognise has limited shelf life; he doesn’t spend
nearly as long there this time out. Discovering that the haunter is your
common-or-garden serial killer with a Norman Bates mommy fixation is distinctly
underwhelming (mommy bears a passing resemblance to the operatic one from Shakespear's Sister, but with Siobhan's make-up). Naturally, there are bodies stacked up in a hidden room. It
isn’t clear why the mother of Parker Crane (the killer) should lead them to her
son’s house, masquerading as the non-corporeal Eloise. Apart from to give Wan
an obvious but effective reveal (“I’m not who you thought I was”; see also the telephone
cans above), that is. The device of shaking word-dice to communicate with the
dead is quite neat, however, even if it leads to some rather daft scenes (“What is Parker Crane holding behind his
back?”; er, now let me take a wild guess).
In fact, much of the third act is rather awkward. The
Further must be visited, and it’s nice to see Eloise again, but the threat in
the corporeal house is rote, as Josh goes all Jack Torrance on his family. It
makes no sense that he wouldn’t kill Carl, Specs and Tucker as he’s intent on murdering
his own family. I guess it means the trio of investigators can return for Chapter 3, however. Which is out next
year, sans the Lambert family (it’s slightly surprising that, after all this
hassle, their arch nemesis can be despatched by beating her with a chair), and
has Whannell making his directorial debut. He’s writing again, of course, which
means there will be lousy lines like Josh’s, as he discusses how good it is to
feel pain again; “I miss it, but not as
much as I miss inflicting it on others”. Whannell isn’t going to win a Best
Original Screenplay Oscar any time soon.
**1/2
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