“Insidious: Chapter 2” is ridiculous, convoluted and incoherent, but somehow inexplicably enjoyable.
Picking up events where they left off from the first installment, Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne, “Bridesmaids”) gives a testimony to the police about the strange events surrounding the conclusion of “Insidious.”
The medium Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye, “Crazy Kind of Love”) is killed in an attempt to save the Lambert’s son from the Further during a seance. She is successful, but the suspicions of her death are pinned on Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson, “The Conjuring”). Eventually, the Lamberts move back into Josh’s family house where the paranormal begins to take hold.
The second “chapter” is all over the place and seems there was never an intent on a sequel. Not since Joe Dante’s “Gremlins 2” has a director seemed so disinterested in creating a sequel.
“Insidious: Chapter 2” is by no means a sound movie. The story hacks away at continuity and asks the audience to forget what they learned at the end of “Insidious.” The final film appears as a mix of “Mommy Dearest,” “Back to the Future,” “Ghostbusters,” “Aerobicide,” “Abbott and Costello,” “The Omen,” “The Avengers” and the slightest hint of “Bioshock: Infinite.”
It is certainly not as engrossing as “The Conjuring,” but somehow by some supernatural stroke of luck, “Insidious: Chapter 2” boomerangs around as an enjoyable, but flawed second installment.
dkahen-kashi@theeagleonline.com
