Lived up to the hype

Rating: 9/10 (12 September 2013)

All week I was digging around trying to find critics' reviews about this to see what they thought at their early screenings. Well, it wasn't good, and I was feeling let down already. They all basically said the same thing; that the jump and scare moments were plenty, but that's about it. The story is too convoluted and it just isn't as good as the first one. Also, there is too much humor and wit in it, and it takes away from the tension buildup. But would that stop me from seeing it first chance I get Thursday night? As a die-hard of demon movies and of the first Insidious, nothing was going to stop me.
When the movie opened with the original Insidious creepy sound of high-pitched instruments, I was very excited. I sat back and prepared to enjoy the ride. And did I ever. At the conclusion, I immediately knew that this installment was more horrifying than the first one. I'm not saying the story was better, or that it was written, acted, or any other cinema verb you could think of done better, because that's still up for debate. But what I knew for sure was that this was more terrifying than the first one. And that's the whole point of scary movies, right? To be terrified? A handful of the jump and scare moments will stick with you, that's for sure. Patrick Wilson did an amazing job, as he has done in his recent string of scary movies. While the two goofy underlings to Elise do bring humor to the table, I don't think it takes much away from the overall dread and terror. At least not as much as critics are saying it does. What I loved about this movie besides the scares, was that it tied together some things from the first one. I wasn't expecting that. You'll see what I'm talking about when you see it though. You'll probably say something along the lines of what I said when it was happening.."Wow, that was beautifully planned out and executed. Props to the writers there." The story is more complicated than the first one, but if you can keep up, you'll really appreciate and enjoy it. And the complexity of it will make it a movie worth seeing multiple times in order to catch everything. Be prepared to jump a mile in your seat at some of the parts. Then laugh while your heart rate comes back down. I'm giving this a 9/10. But that is pretty biased because of my love of the first movie. So more realistically, 8/10.