Darker and deeper than before

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2013)

Having seen the first movie and been scared out of my wits over it, I have come to the conclusion that James Wan is probably one of only a few directors who can actually do what horror movies are meant to do and scare people. Except he doesn't use loads of gore and torture to achieve this aim.
Insidious 2 literally begins where Insidious ended. Dalton Lambert is back with his family after coming back from the Further. Unfortunately, he appears to have brought back with him whatever plagued Josh Lambert's childhood i.e. The Old Lady. Insidious 2 deals with her and her attempted slow possession of Josh.
The Lambert family move back to Josh's mother's house which is quite old. No sooner do they move and settle in, than strange things happen again. A piano plays randomly late at night, the baby of the family cries for no apparent reason, toys are thrown around rooms and an angry ghost in the form of a violent, white dressed woman starts physically abusing Renai Lambert.
Renai is at a loss. She discusses what is going on with Josh's mum and decides to delve deeper. For this, they need help. They turn to the 2 helpers of the previous film who filmed Elise the psychic.Both of these men turn to Elise and appeal to her from the Other Side for help. Elise directs them to Carl, a talented psychic who communicates with the dead via scrabble letters in which the dead spell out what they want to him.
The film then takes a dark journey back to Josh's past and to the ghost lady plaguing the family. It turns out the ghost lady was involved with another of Lorraine Lambert's patients and Lorraine, 2 helpers and Carl go through dark, disused hospitals to find out the truth which is more unpleasant than they realise.
Added to that, is the knowledge that Josh is slowly being taken over by the Old Lady from the previous film. He changes very slowly but its quite recognisable how much he is being taken over and chilling. Carl realises early on that he has to enter the Further to find the real Josh and try and help him. What follows is pretty much part of the first film shot from a different side. Carl meets Josh who is trapped in the Further while the Old Lady is taking over his physical body. He follows Josh around in the Further and encounters Ellise who helps them. This part of the film is pretty terrifying as we discover the reasons why the door would open for no reason and why creepy characters are wandering around the house.
In the normal world, however, Renai is dealing with a husband who seems to be out to kill her. This part of the film is probably the most harrowing, especially for women who've suffered domestic violence. Renai, however, is not a passive victim and fights back quite strongly to the extent of locking herself down in the basement with Dalton whilst Josh does his very best to imitate Jack Nicholson's character from The Shining.
However, it is Dalton who saves the day. He calls Josh back from the Further after entering it to find his dad and brings both his father and Carl back. Ellise bids them farewell. All appears to be well in the Lambert's world finally but Ellise's spirit returns to help her 2 former assistants. She goes to the house of a young woman troubled by something and finds something there so horrifying its going to cause even more trouble.
Fans of the first movie will note that the Red faced Demon of the first is not in evidence here. If you're expecting him, prepare to be disappointed. It does look as if there will be another movie however, and he's likely to turn up in that. This film is pretty frightening but it is more 'jumpy' shocks than anything else. The trip into the Further that Josh, Dalton and Carl make is chilling and grim stuff. Lorraine and friends trip around the derelict mental hospital where she worked is grim enough and ghosts abound everywhere. This is not a film to watch alone or if you're easily afraid.