The following review contains spoilers for the first Insidious film.

In 2010 director James Wan – famously known for, among other things, co-creating the Saw series along with writer Leigh Whannell – unleashed Insidious onto the world, a bold and frankly terrifying horror film that remains one of the best mainstream examples of the genre in recent times (just the thought of its high-pitched musical motifs still gives me shivers). Its particular bag of horror tricks felt influenced by movies of years past but utilised in a striking new and polished fashion, with an understanding of atmosphere, tension and an eventual fun and over-the-top carnival-esque ride into the unknown.

Now following on from that and this year’s similarly excellent The Conjuring, Wan and Whannell have delved back into their Insidious world for a maybe not entirely warranted but nevertheless welcome sequel. And while there’s a certain retreading going on in terms of how the director employs his scaring techniques and some demystifying of certain events that’s disappointing rather than enlightening, Chapter 2 is nonetheless a solid piece of theatrical horror fun.

We pick things up not long after the events of the last film in which the head of the Lambert household, Josh (Patrick Wilson), travelled via astral projection into the mysterious realm The Further in order to retrieve his similarly supernaturally gifted son. However, despite things initially returning to normal, it soon becomes clear to his wife Renai (Rose Byrne) and children that Josh doesn’t quite seem like his old self.

While it maybe doesn’t do a whole lot new when it comes to trying to scare its audience, it’s nevertheless nice to see a horror sequel that attempts to properly expand on the mythology of the first film rather than just hitting the repeat button. It would have been very easy for this to be a simple cash-in that dispensed with the Lambert family, introduced us to a new one and made the same things happen to them. The first one introduced us to some likeable, well developed characters that we cared about – largely thanks to good performances particularly from Wilson, Byrne and the wonderful Lin Shaye – and knows it’s important that we find out what became of them even if it means the level of scares suffers because of it.

Its expanded plot continues to evoke things like The Amityville Horror and The Omen but brings in new influences, most notably The Shining and the idea of a family feeling unsafe around the formerly protective father. It doesn’t shy away from the bold move it made at the end of the first one where Josh seemingly became overtaken by the strange woman veiled in black. It’s this (ironically given the otherwise exaggerated nature of it) more realistic throughline of scares that provides for some of the films more effective moments especially towards its unsurprisingly heightened final act. However, in terms of those other-worldly scares – things moving around the house, eerie figures suddenly appearing and the like – there’s a distinct lack of memorable moments that’s allowed the previous film to linger in the mind.

Many of the first film’s detractors cited its last act as the main issue, the moment when it threw caution to the wind i.e. travelled into The Further and for some became rather silly. For me that aspect totally worked as, like I said, it felt like a carnival or ghost train ride from an old dusty theme park. However, that theatricality or silliness (depending on your view) has been let out of the box, so to speak, and now runs throughout Chapter 2 of this ghostly story. There’s no red-and-black faced demon (or “Darth Maul” as some poked fun) this time around, which for me is a shame as it provided the first one’s most entertainingly over-the-top aspects, but in its place there’s some frankly unintentionally laughable dialogue to be found as it attempts to (over)explain certain things that were best left a mystery. Some of the comedy is entirely on purpose – the joking paranormal investigators played by Whannell and Angus Sampson are given a lot more screentime, for example – but it’s a problem that you’re laughing at moments when you should be cowering in your seat.

In exploring the world of The Further – which is a fascinating construct and a neat twist on the spirit world trope – it starts to get somewhat convoluted and contrived with its rules on what can and can’t be achieved when someone astral projects and finds themselves there, and how that affects the living world. It throws in some nifty twists on how we perceive the now familiar spooky goings on in that classic oversized house we only find in (particularly American) horror movies but at the expense of keeping its own internal logic in check. The logic creaks and even falls apart on reflection but it rarely matters in the moment when, for example, we hear a strange noise or see a ghostly woman in a white dress in what was moments ago an empty room.

On a technical level Chapter 2 is just as well made as the first film, with an atmosphere this now franchise can comfortably call its own. It’s no spoiler to say that there’s a definite door left open for there to be a third chapter and another return to this world is far preferable to many other continuing franchises, horror and otherwise, especially since it continues to prove modern horror need not be gory to be effective. This isn’t going to convince anyone who wasn’t a fan of the first film as it carries that same distinct flavour and perhaps only fans will be willing to let its flaws slide in favour of being able to revel once again in the creepy world Wan and Whannell so successfully created.

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