In 2011, “Insidious” hit theatres with more of impact than typically expected from a PG-13 “Possession” horror movie. I had not personally seen the movie until it came to Netflix many months after it’s release. I remembered hearing good things about Insidious and did not hesitate to stream the movie in my first moments of free time.

This movie had legitimately frightened me. The way in which it was filmed were so the scary elements very limited and shown appropriately and effectively. There were still, typical cheesy scenes found in most films of the horror genre but the story left an impression on me. It was only natural when “Insidious Chapter 2” was announced that I highly anticipated its’ release.

“Insidious Chapter 2” picks up right where the cliffhanger of the first movie left off. The father figure has returned from a paranormal dream like dimension after rescuing his son whom was claimed by a demon like entity. Turns out, the possession of this man’s son was not a random occurrence. The father had been haunted in his childhood but had been hypnotized to become unfamiliar with the paranormal activity that was ever a part of his life.

The movie primarily focuses more on the background story of the family affected and why the demons chose them. There are many jumps between time dimensions that initially made the story hard to follow. Towards the end of the film all of the pieces fell together and it started to make sense. “Insidious Chapter 2”, as the first one is rated PG-13 but the filmmakers tried to up the scare element too much.

There were a few parts that made me jump but most of the horror scenes could be found in the majority of modern movies of the genre. An example is the mirror trick. The makers show the protagonist looking in a mirror or window, then said person will drop an item or turn away only to look back and see a frightening image of the antagonist right beside or behind them. This approach is getting quite old to me because I already know what to expect.

Overall “Insidious Chapter 2” was good but nothing compared to the first installment. The makers obviously expected the movie to be quite successful because another cliffhanger was installed toward the end of movie convincing the viewer to expect Insidious Chapter 3 to hit theatres within a few years. I only hope they don’t continuously drag out the series and destroy it with sequels as what was done to the “Saw” and “Paranormal Activity” franchises.