While it's slightly rushed and never quite as creepy as the first film, "Insidious: Chapter 2" is still a fun, suspenseful ride that has a lot of interesting ideas to explore.

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2013)

"Insidious: Chapter 2" was one of the more interesting viewing experiences I've had this year. I am an enormous fan of James Wan's first entry. I found it to be a surprising, eerie, well-made creepfest, and is one of the best supernatural thrillers I've seen in the past 10 years. And I thought Wan outdid himself with the absolutely wonderful "The Conjuring", which was an excellent film and a perfect haunted-house thrill ride. So I was wildly excited for Wan's follow-up, "Insidious: Chapter 2." Would it rival "The Conjuring" as one of Wan's best films? Would it be a good follow up to the original?
The answers to those questions are a respective "No" and "Yes." It isn't quite able to match the masterful work Wan did in "The Conjuring", but I would ague that while not quite as good as the first chapter, "Insidious: Chapter 2" is definitely a worthy follow-up, with some fun scares and some really cool, interesting ideas that it explores.
We pick up right after the first film- the Lambert family has recovered their son Dalton from the spirit world of "The Further", but paranormal medium/investigator Elise (Lin Shaye) has been murdered, and father Josh (Patrick Wilson) may or may not now be possessed by the malevolent spirit of the mysterious spectral woman from his past. With a police investigation ongoing, the family is forced to stay with Josh's mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) for the time being. However, Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) and Dalton (Ty Simpkins) soon begin to once again experience supernatural phenomena, while Elise's former teammates (Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson) work with Carl (Steve Coulter), a former colleague of hers, to unravel the mysteries of what is happening. And all will be forced to confront horrors and dangers if they hope to save Josh and the rest of the family from the dark spirits of The Further.
The cast is a lot of fun for the most part. Wilson has a larger range to cover this time around, and for the most part is successful. (Although admittedly, he goes a bit over-the-top at times) Byrne, Hershey, Simpkins and the other members of the Lambert family all give wonderful performances, even though they tend to be relegated to screaming and running from the supernatural forces much of the time. Whannell and Sampson are a joy as they were before in their more broad comedic roles. And Coulter grounds the film as the investigative character who gives much of the rules and exposition.
Wan's direction is once again top notch, especially for the low-budget nature of the two "Insidious" films. He is able to appropriately build mood and tension through wonderful shot compositions and his first class directions. The other facets of the production are also similarly wonderful, including some great, moody production design, and a fantastic score from returning composer Joseph Bishara. (Who sadly doesn't reprise his on-screen role as the Red-Faced Demon from the last film.)
However, it is unfortunately an uneven script with some big pacing issues that brings this film down a few points from the fantastic 9 out of 10 I gave to the original film. The writing isn't bad... in fact the film does have a solid foundation and storyline, and it delves into many new and interesting ideas pertaining to The Further/The Spirit World. It's just highly flawed at times and suffers from having too break-neck a pace during certain segments. Whereas the first film was a much slower and more deliberate piece, that took its time to establish a mood, "Chapter 2" rushes, with a pace almost comparable to an action film. And as a result, less time is taken to establish development or atmosphere before the scares start, which did lessen their impact. Some of the scares and story segments also feel slightly contrived, and a few of the more interesting concepts are established but don't go anywhere particularly interesting. However, despite these issues, writer Leigh Whannell (who as mentioned above, also co-stars) is able to craft a satisfactory continuation of the story. I just wish he took his time.
Overall, while it never quite reaches the first film's heights, "Insidious: Chapter 2" is still a spooky, fun ride with some really cool new concepts. And it is definitely a worthy sequel to the stellar original.
I give it a pretty good 7 out of 10. Turn out the lights, lock the doors, and check it out for some creepy fun.