Insidious: Chapter 2
Insidious: Chapter 2 is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan. The film is a sequel to the 2010 film Insidious, and the second installment in the Insidious franchise, and the fourth in terms of the series's in-story chronology. The film stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, reprising their roles as Josh and Renai Lambert, a husband and wife who seek to uncover the secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. The film was released September 13, 2013.
Two prequels, Chapter 3 and The Last Key were released on June 5, 2015, and January 5, 2018, respectively, with a direct sequel to Chapter 2, The Red Door, released on July 7, 2023.
Plot[edit]
In 1986, Lorraine Lambert summons demonologist Elise Rainier to help her son Josh, who is being haunted by the spirit of an old woman in a black bridal gown. While searching for paranormal phenomena in their home, Elise's arm is slashed by an unseen but physical
force. She insists that they must suppress Josh's astral projection abilities for his own safety and plant altered memories in his brain.
24 years later, Josh's wife, Renai Lambert, is being questioned by a detective about the death of Elise. She's warned that if Josh's fingerprints are found at the crime scene, he'll be charged with Elise's murder. Josh, Renai, and their children – Dalton, Foster, and Kali – temporarily relocate to Lorraine's house, where they begin to encounter eerie paranormal events again. Dalton tells his mother that he has been having nightmares about a woman in a white dress, as well as hearing Josh talk to an unseen figure. Renai receives a call from the police stating that the fingerprints did not match Josh's. A ghostly woman in a white dress then attacks Renai and Josh hears a voice urging him to kill his family.
Specs and Tucker, Elise's former associates, show Lorraine a videotape of the 1986 investigation, enhanced to reveal an adult Josh standing behind the young Josh. They contact Elise's former colleague, Carl, who attempts to contact Elise's spirit. They are told to find answers at an abandoned hospital, where Lorraine used to work as a doctor. Lorraine recounts the story twenty-five years ago when a patient named Parker Crane, who was admitted for trying to castrate himself, had assaulted a then-young Josh. She saw Parker some days later and when she asked a nurse why he was out of bed, the nurse was perplexed, then stunned. She then told Lorraine that he had jumped to his death the day before. The group goes to the Crane family home where Lorraine is attacked by the spirit of Parker's mother, Michelle, who calls herself "Mother Mortis." She is the spirit Carl had summoned and mistakenly believed to be Elise. The group finds a secret room, containing numerous corpses, a black wedding gown, and newspaper clippings. Carl touches the gown and discovers Parker had been a serial killer known as "The Bride in Black,” who abucted and murdered 15 women while dressed as a woman. Parker had been forced to kill his victims at the behest of his mother's spirit.
Josh's body begins to slowly deteriorate, the longer Parker’s dead soul occupies it, and Renai realizes Josh is possessed. Lorraine insists that they all get away from Josh. Carl, Specs, and Tucker arrive to drug him but he gains the upper hand and incapacitates them, instead. Carl awakens in the spirit realm of The Further, where he meets the spirits of the real Josh and Elise. The time moves non-chronologically there, and Josh is able to communicate with himself as a child to locate Parker's house in The Further.
Meanwhile in the physical world, the possessed Josh ambushes Lorraine and Renai. After locking Lorraine in a closet, Josh pursues Renai, and attempts to strangle her. He is then hit over the head by Dalton, who has just returned home with Foster. Renai escapes to the basement with the children and Dalton voluntarily enters The Further to help his father. There, Josh and the others find Parker's house where they witness Michelle abusing him and forcing him to act like a girl. Elise saves Josh and appears to destroy Michelle's spirit, which stops the possessed Josh from murdering his family in the real world. Carl and Josh escape and Dalton leads them back to the living world, allowing Josh to finally regain control of his body. The Lambert family is finally reunited, with Josh and Dalton once again having their memories suppressed by Carl.
Some time later, Specs and Tucker arrive at the house of a family whose daughter, Allison, is in an inexplicable coma. No one but Allison's younger sister can see Elise's spirit, who is first seen standing behind Specs and Tucker, due to the potential ability of astral projection. Elise’s spirit then passes between them and enters Allison's room. There, a terrified-looking Elise is confronted by an unseen figure, behind Allison, as a creaking sound is heard.
Distribution[edit]
Marketing[edit]
In April 2013, the first promotional poster for the film went on display at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.[25] The first theatrical trailer for the film was screened to a live audience on location at the Linda Vista Community Hospital on June 4, 2013, with an online release the following day.[26] On August 10, 2013, it was announced at the convention Scare L.A by producer Jason Blum and Universal's creative director John Murdy, that a maze attraction entitled "Insidious: Into the Further" will be featured at the 2013 Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood.[27]
Theatrical release[edit]
While originally intended to be released on August 30, 2013,[12] Insidious: Chapter 2 was rescheduled for a September 20 release date.[28] The film's release date was later moved again to September 13, 2013.[3]
On the night prior to its theatrical wide release, the film was shown in select theatres as part of a double feature with the first installment.[29] A red carpet premiere for the film was held in Los Angeles on September 10, 2013.
Release[edit]
Box office[edit]
In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $32–35 million in its opening weekend.[30][31] It earned $1.5 million from its Thursday night showings,[32] and $20 million Friday, making it the biggest opening day in September box office history.[33] It went on to debut number one, taking in $41 million at the box office.[34] The film grossed a worldwide total of $161.9 million against a budget of $5 million.[5]
Critical response[edit]
Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 38% based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Insidious: Chapter 2 is decidedly short on the tension and surprises that made its predecessor so chilling."[35] Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 40 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[36] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[34]
Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave the film a positive review, stating that "the scares are mostly very scary indeed, and that means the film does its job."[37] Scott Foundas of Variety praised the "artfully eerie" cinematography work of John R. Leonetti and the "pervasively unsettling atmosphere" constructed by sound designer and editor Joe Dzuban. Foundas further wrote that "where so many sequels seem like mere remakes of their predecessors, with bigger budgets and less imagination, Insidious: Chapter 2 feels like a genuine continuation of characters we enjoyed getting to know the first time around, and wouldn't at all mind returning to again."[38] Conversely, Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times commented, "After the pleasurable free fall into old-fashioned nightmare artistry that was last summer's The Conjuring, this busy-yet-dull sequel feels like Wan robotically flexing his manipulation of fright-film signposts, an exercise more silly than sinister."[39] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Setting aside the movie's tediously lame dialogue, self-conscious performances and frequently predictable scares, the narrative's compulsively shifting chronology intermittently manages to engage, although it does little to obscure the distracting shortcomings of both plot and character development."[40]
Future films[edit]
Prequels[edit]
On September 16, 2013, a third film in the series was announced, with Leigh Whannell signed on to return as writer while Jason Blum and Oren Peli were also set to produce.[42] When asked about returning for another sequel, actor Patrick Wilson went on to say that he "[doesn't] know where else it could go," and that "[Josh Lambert has] been through the wringer, and I think the movie sets it up well at the end... And that's great, that's how it should end."[43] On March 11, 2014, it was reported that the third film wouldn't focus on the Lambert family, but would focus on a new family and story, that it wouldn't connect to the last teaser scene in the second film, and that Whannell and Sampson wouldn't return as ghost hunters Specs and Tucker. On May 7, 2014, Wan tweeted that Whannell would be directing the third film, which would mark his directorial debut.[44] Stefanie Scott and Dermot Mulroney starred in the film.[45][46] Focus Features and Stage 6 Films released Insidious: Chapter 3 on June 5, 2015.
A fourth film, Insidious: The Last Key, was announced in May 2016. Whannell returned to write, with Blum, Peli, and Wan producing, as well as Shaye reprising her role as Elise Rainier and Adam Robitel directing.[47] The film was released on January 5, 2018.[48]