There are few directors who can make a truly scary movie.
I'm not talking about the run of the mill movie where something jumps at the
camera, the music screeches and you feel that instant adrenalin rush from what
happened. I'm talking about a scary movie that has a few of those moments
perhaps but that has something deeper about it that makes you walk out of a
theater or turn off the DVD player and wonder if something terrifying from the
screen didn't walk off and stay by your side. James Wan is a director whose
name you might not know but who makes movies exactly like that.
Wan first came to notice when he co-wrote and directed a
small low budget film you may have heard of called SAW. Things he did in that
movie, his creative use of light and shadow, of wringing a story to get
everything out of it, can be found in the other films he's done in follow up.
In 2010 he made another horror film called INSIDIOUS. The story of a haunting
that wasn't of a house but of a boy was a hit with movie fans that made it a
successful release. It ended with the boy and his father leaving the Further, a
not quite limbo between the worlds it the living and the dead, and returning
home safe and sound. Or did they?
INSIDIOUS 2 comes out on DVD this week to answer that
question. Picking up immediately where the first film ended, Josh and Renai
Lambert (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne) stay at his mother's house since their
old house is now a crime scene with the death of Elise Rainier (Lynn Shaye),
the spiritual investigator that helped rescue them. Within minutes of trying to
go to bed things begin to happen. Renai is the first to realize that it hasn't
ended yet.
In the first moments of this movie we see the past and
discover that it wasn't the first time Elise had a meeting with Josh. As a
child she was there to help as well. Under hypnosis she finds out what she
needs to know about the haunting and thinks that using the hypnosis she can
erase the knowledge of the Further from Josh's mind forever. Alas this isn't
the case.
As things begin to happen in Josh's mother Lorraine's
(Barbara Hershey) house, Renai is frightened once more for her family. But this
time she also has a fear of Josh as well. While he may have rescued their son
and brought him back from the dark place he went to, he seems somehow
different. The police suspecting him of being the one that killed Elise doesn't
ease her mind any.
As Lorraine begins to see ghostly figures in her home she
and Renai begin to attack the problem from different angles, neither knowing at
first what the other is doing. Lorraine approaches Carl, Elise's assistant from
year's back who brought her into the case. Renai on the other hand approaches
Elise's assistants Specs and Tucker. Eventually their pursuits cross paths and
the trio teams up to help this family.
I won't give away the details of the reveal here but the
fact is they give it away early on, as a matter of fact with Renai's fear that
Josh isn't the man he was. Suffice to say that the bride in black from the
first film hasn't gone off to her just desserts yet. As a matter of fact just
who the bride is is revealed more here than in the first film. The jump scares
aren't as many here but the depth of story is more fleshed out and when it is
revealed it's a much creepier concept than originally brought out.
The actors do a wonderful job here with not one taking
center stage. That's a tough job when there are 2 to 3 name actors who normally
would dominate the film. Instead this feels more like an ensemble piece where
each has a role to play in the telling of this story. The stand out character
in this film is more the lighting and camera work on display. Both flesh out
the tale more than the words and acting. This isn't denigrating the actor's
performances, just noting that everything from start to finish is enhanced by
the use of light and shadow.
It may seem odd for this to be the top release coming out
the week of Christmas to DVD but horror films seem to be more widespread these
days than ever before. The good news is that this one seems to fulfill every
need that horror and suspense fans will love. That means that not only is this
one worth watching but one to add to the collection as well. It's that good.
Click here to order.
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