Saw the somewhat amusingly named Insidious: Chapter 2 today – the sequel (you don’t say!) to the movie Insidious (which was an effective but not groundbreaking little horror flick). This is a direct sequel… even starting with something you rarely see in a horror movie… the police investigation into whatever the hell went on in the first flick (kind of a plot that didn’t follow through).

This movie is surprisingly not bad… it gets a little tedious with the usual “don’t these ghosts have anything better to do than mess with us?” type boo scares… but it actually turns all that routine haunting stuff on its head a little bit and then twists around to explain the same routine events in the first flick in an amusing way. It’s almost like part of this movie is a self-parody of haunted house movies while also being thoroughly another haunted house movie.

The same cast is back, the same insane use of overly-dramatic music is back, the same insane title card… I don’t think this is as solid a movie, but it has some unique charms.

Score: 76