Better than expected for sequel, but loses the magic of the first

Rating: 5/10 (18 September 2013)

The first felt like a complete film - the dynamics between the main couple were interesting, there was a tension that gave depth and emotion to the horror element. The performances and atmosphere were properly attended to and it all worked.
In the sequel, the performances, characters and emotional depth are discarded in favour of over-cooking the narrative. It plays out like a TV movie (shot on DV) of something like American Horror Story, where story elements, jump moments and historical causes fly thick and fast.
There are too many references to other haunted house films and clichés, The Shining and Psycho. Those latter references (which are extremely blatant) make you wish you were watching a "real" film of that calibre, and only serve to highlight how amateur feeling this whole thing is.
Leigh Whannels script, whilst over excited does have some nice touches (as well as clunkers), but James Wan's direction felt totally uninspired and rushed this time around.