by Bruce E. Parry
So tonight I took my son to the movies. It’s a school night, but his mom has a regular Monday night commitment and Savaun had his homework done and he really wanted to see this movie (which I’ve been hearing about for weeks), so I decided to take him. By the way, I did not see Insidious (2010), so I don’t know what the relation of the films is to each other.
I’m never ready to like the horror movies he picks out for several reasons. One, I don’t like horror movies any more. I used to when I was younger, but I either outgrew them or just got over them. Whatever, they aren’t my favorite genre and I wouldn’t see them at all, but Sharon dislikes them even more and refuses to take him. So Savaun would never get to see his favorite movies if it wasn’t for me. Two, I’m really not into the supernatural, which kind of negates the purpose of the films. Three, of the ones I’ve seen, they aren’t the most engrossing movies on the market. Most don’t seem to me to be very well made. The special effects are good, but even the scary parts often aren’t very scary or even startling. Many of them are predictable to a boring degree.
So Insidious 2 was a pleasant surprise. It starts off with some really stiff (non-)acting and disagreeable editing or directing in the first scenes. I was thinking, “Oh, no!” But the movie unfolds well and both the acting and the directing feel more natural as the film progresses. What attracted me most was that there is a real story behind it. It isn’t just that some scary other-world beings are haunting the family (well, it is about that), but rather a well-put together script where everything comes together by the end of the film. Yes, there are other-worldly beings trying to haunt the family, but there is actually a reason for that and it allows the whole thing to come together. I even like the fact that doors and noises that seem random (ghosts are always doing things like that) turn out to have real causes. I thought the writing in the film was quite gripping.
The scary scenes are scary, which is really important in this genre. They are startling in many cases and, of course, there are an infinite number of scenes where you’re yelling, “Don’t go in there!” But they always do. Sometimes to good effect, sometimes not. But overall, the bad demons are bad and the good guys aren’t always so good, so the whole thing works out. The tension builds well in the film. As is standard in this genre, the film goes from pretty mild haunting to more and more scary scenarios. They carry you to parallel worlds and you, the viewer, get to see how those worlds interact with the “real” world.
The special effects work, too, and they aren’t overpowering. I never had the feeling that the movie was doing something just to show off. The special effects are not cutting edge (which is good) and are used to advance the plot and the general tension of the film.
There are a couple of times I went “Huh?” in the film. There are a couple of short scenes where the police are involved over the death of one of the characters, but nothing ever comes of that and I’m left wondering why it’s even in there. In the first such scene, I expected the cops were going to get drawn in, but they never do. We hear from them once again, but it’s just to give the viewer some information.
Overall, I liked the film better than most I get to see in this genre. It was pleasantly scary without being grossly bloody, violent or profane. It was well put together and quite entertaining. Savaun is already looking forward toInsidious 3, which has been announced. The closing scene in this film, Insidious 2, is a shameless set up forInsidious 3, but by the time it comes I was forgiving, particularly since it was so obvious.
Copyright Bruce E. Parry
So tonight I took my son to the movies. It’s a school night, but his mom has a regular Monday night commitment and Savaun had his homework done and he really wanted to see this movie (which I’ve been hearing about for weeks), so I decided to take him. By the way, I did not see Insidious (2010), so I don’t know what the relation of the films is to each other.
I’m never ready to like the horror movies he picks out for several reasons. One, I don’t like horror movies any more. I used to when I was younger, but I either outgrew them or just got over them. Whatever, they aren’t my favorite genre and I wouldn’t see them at all, but Sharon dislikes them even more and refuses to take him. So Savaun would never get to see his favorite movies if it wasn’t for me. Two, I’m really not into the supernatural, which kind of negates the purpose of the films. Three, of the ones I’ve seen, they aren’t the most engrossing movies on the market. Most don’t seem to me to be very well made. The special effects are good, but even the scary parts often aren’t very scary or even startling. Many of them are predictable to a boring degree.
So Insidious 2 was a pleasant surprise. It starts off with some really stiff (non-)acting and disagreeable editing or directing in the first scenes. I was thinking, “Oh, no!” But the movie unfolds well and both the acting and the directing feel more natural as the film progresses. What attracted me most was that there is a real story behind it. It isn’t just that some scary other-world beings are haunting the family (well, it is about that), but rather a well-put together script where everything comes together by the end of the film. Yes, there are other-worldly beings trying to haunt the family, but there is actually a reason for that and it allows the whole thing to come together. I even like the fact that doors and noises that seem random (ghosts are always doing things like that) turn out to have real causes. I thought the writing in the film was quite gripping.
The scary scenes are scary, which is really important in this genre. They are startling in many cases and, of course, there are an infinite number of scenes where you’re yelling, “Don’t go in there!” But they always do. Sometimes to good effect, sometimes not. But overall, the bad demons are bad and the good guys aren’t always so good, so the whole thing works out. The tension builds well in the film. As is standard in this genre, the film goes from pretty mild haunting to more and more scary scenarios. They carry you to parallel worlds and you, the viewer, get to see how those worlds interact with the “real” world.
The special effects work, too, and they aren’t overpowering. I never had the feeling that the movie was doing something just to show off. The special effects are not cutting edge (which is good) and are used to advance the plot and the general tension of the film.
There are a couple of times I went “Huh?” in the film. There are a couple of short scenes where the police are involved over the death of one of the characters, but nothing ever comes of that and I’m left wondering why it’s even in there. In the first such scene, I expected the cops were going to get drawn in, but they never do. We hear from them once again, but it’s just to give the viewer some information.
Overall, I liked the film better than most I get to see in this genre. It was pleasantly scary without being grossly bloody, violent or profane. It was well put together and quite entertaining. Savaun is already looking forward toInsidious 3, which has been announced. The closing scene in this film, Insidious 2, is a shameless set up forInsidious 3, but by the time it comes I was forgiving, particularly since it was so obvious.
Copyright Bruce E. Parry
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