Kidzworld reviews the second installment of the scary out-of-body movie experience “Insidious” in “Insidious Chapter 2”. More creepy stuff is in store for the members of the haunted Lambert family.
By: Lynn Barker
Just when you think your family members have ditched the ghosts and demons from another dimension that haunt them, you learn that it might be something from dad’s past that is wrecking your future. Talk about dysfunctional families!
Flashback
We learn that when Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) was a boy, he was haunted by strange beings crossing over from a spirit world called The Further. Some of them would appear as foggy images in pictures of him and try to get him to cross over to their world. Elise, a psychic, was used to wipe the boy’s memory of the events. Now, a dad with a family, Josh doesn’t remember this part of his past.
The Lambert family tries to contact the spirit world
Right Now
(In the last film) older Elise was strangled while investigating the hauntings in the current Lambert household. Now mom Renai (Rose Byrne) is telling police about the incident. Could Josh have done it? While the family stays with grandma Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) at the house Josh grew up in, weird noises and ghost sightings start up again. Did something evil follow him back from The Further when he went to rescue son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) in the last movie? Is dad really dad?
Police question mom about friend Elise's death
Ghostbusters
Eccentric and silly paranormal investigators Specs and Tucker (co-writer Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson) are called in again to try to rid the family of the unwelcome attention from the demons who seek passage into our world. They discover old video tapes of Josh’s haunting as a boy. They tangle with the ghost of a woman in white who seems to want to steal the Lambert’s new baby.
A ghost in the house
Creepy Killer
Consulting Elise’s spirit, the Ghostbuster guys gradually track down who this strange woman is; she’s the creepy mom of a horrible serial killer. She basically made the guy want to kill women because she treated him so horribly when he was a kid. Now she wants more babies whose lives she can ruin!
Dalton does some latenight reading
Can “Good” Dad Save His Family?
We see that there are two dads; the good one seems to be lost inside The Further while the one here is possessed by the evil spirit of the serial killer. Can the spirit of Elise, her psychic friend, the Ghostbusters, Dalton and his grandma save good Josh and free the family from haunting once and for all?
Dad searches the other world
Epilogue
Specs and Tucker continue trying to help possessed families. The spirit of Elise is always beside them. A new little girl is possessed. Inside her house Elise sees something that totally freaks her out and she screams “Oh my God”!
Wrapping Up
Insidious Chapter 2 is pretty scary (It’s PG-13 and certainly not for younger kids). It might make a fun, grab-your-crush date night movie but you might have trouble figuring out who is “bad” dad and who is “good” dad and ask “What haunted house are we in now?” The plot, locations and also the rules in the parallel “Further” world are pretty confusing.
Dad tucks son Dalton in
The Specs and Tucker characters are often funny and the film could use more of their comic relief. Too much of the movie involves grandma and the ghosthunters running around in spooky places. I’d like to see more of young Dalton, played by Iron Man 3’s Ty Simpkins, helping to save the day. Patrick Wilson does a great acting job playing both kind and weird, possessed dads. I’d say for a creepy, pre-Halloween scare, the film does the trick but don’t expect to fully “get” what is going on. We’ll go a soft 3 stars.
Insidious Chapter 2 Movie Rating: 
Insidious Chapter 2 poster
Insidious Chapter 2 is in theathers September 13th!
