Review Roundup: Patrick Wilson Stars in INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2

The famed horror team of director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell reunite with the original cast of Broadway vet Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye,Barbara Hershey and Ty Simpkins in INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2, a terrifying sequel to the acclaimed horror film, which follows the haunted Lambert family as they seek to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

A mess from start to finish - though, judging by the ending, this story won't be over any time soon - "Insidious: Chapter 2" is the kind of lazy, halfhearted product that gives scary movies a bad name.

Matt Kennedy, Washington Post

Although "Insidious" had built up a nice head of suspense for much of the film, its final act was absurdly out of proportion to the delicious sense of dread that had been created by director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell.

Claudia Puig, USA Today

Predictability lurks in every dusty nook of this sequel. It incorporates hackneyed tropes -pianos suddenly starting to play, children's toys coming to life, the sound of infant screams emanating from baby monitors and that creaky old staple, terrifying monsters lurking in the closet. Children are the targets, and a malevolent old hag is behind the mayhem. (The killer that does her evil bidding was once a tormented child.)

Sandy Cohen, Associated Press

"Insidious: Chapter 2" deftly juggles various responsibilities: It offers a good dose of non-gory scares, tells a story of supernatural time travel that recalls elements of "Inception," and... look for thematic and visual nods to "Pyscho," 'Poltergeist" and "The Blair Witch Project" in "Insidious: Chapter 2." The film is also self-aware and self-referential, rewarding viewers of the original film with additional explanations in the sequel. And, like its predecessor, "Chapter 2" leaves open the possibility of more to come.

Scott Foundas, Variety

Wan and Whannell once again spin a ripping good ghost story here, populated by lots of restless spirits who ended their time among the living badly, a mother only Norman Bates could love, and a lyrical bit of time travel borrowed from Proust.

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

The throwback horror genre travels beyond the limits of time and space in "Insidious: Chapter 2," where one evil spirit haunts a family using two tin cans connected with a string. A videocassette recorder and rocking horses also fit prominently into the plot. Rarely has a film set in the present day used so many products from an old Sears catalog.

Christ Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly

The problem is, Wan is reaching into the same old grab bag of shock scares, creaky-door sound effects, and ominous baby monitor voices he used in the far better original Insidious. He's recycling the same old tired tropes with diminishing returns. Here, the messy story and cartoony performances seem to be the result of the film's overriding commercial imperative to wring more bucks out of a franchise that should have begun and ended with the first film.

Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter

An unapologetically derivative approach proved no obstacle at the box office for 2011's INSIDIOUS, so CHAPTER 2 should equally appeal to undiscriminating audiences, although the series would not appear to have franchise potential comparable to director-producer James Wan's SAW films.

Sara Stewart, New York Post

I rather liked James Wan's original, occasionally silly "Insidious" - its creepy use of Tiny Tim's "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" still haunts me. But this is one of the more pointless follow-ups ever, just an assortment of scary-movie tropes randomly doled out, with unavoidable jolts at regular intervals. Its main inspiration seems to be those YouTube prank videos wherein a seemingly placid scene is cut short by a ghoul screaming in your face.

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Now comes "Insidious: Chapter 2," which picks up mere moments after the first one. That one ended with Patrick Wilson's demon-possessed family man, Josh Lambert, throttling, fatally, the kindly hypnotist played by Lin Shaye. From the hard-working actor's perspective, it's a handy thing being cast in a movie such as "Insidious": You get killed off, but you can come back as a limbo-dweller or a spirit. Life goes on even when it's over.

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