Insidious: Chapter 2 Information

Insidious: Chapter 2 is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan. It is a sequel to 2011's Insidious. The film stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne reprising their roles as Josh and Renai Lambert, a husband and wife who seek to uncover the secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. The film was released on September 13, 2013.

Plot

In 1986, a medium named Carl calls upon his friend Elise to help discover what is haunting Lorraine Lambert's son, Josh. After hypnotizing Josh, Elise attempts through playing hot and cold to find the location of Josh's "friend" (a woman who appears in photographs of Josh). After warnings from Josh, Elise makes her way to his bedroom closet and is scratched along the arm. As a result, Lorraine, Carl, and Elise agree that making Josh forget his astral projection abilities is the best thing to do.

Twenty-five years later, Renai Lambert is being interviewed about the murder of Elise Rainer by a detective. She is unsettled by the theory that her husband is a killer. The family are now staying with Lorraine and everything appears fine until Renai begins witnessing strange occurrences (i.e., the piano playing on its own and the baby's walker moving by itself). Josh, who is now believed to be inhabited by the old woman, tells her he is fine and everything will be okay.

During the day, Renai sees a woman sitting in the living room in a white dress. She follows the woman in white through the house, until she comes to the bedroom where Renai's baby daughter Calli is held. After following what appears to be the woman and other sounds throughout the house, Renai and she come face-to-face, The woman knocks Renai unconscious and she is left on the floor.

Meanwhile, Lorraine visits Specks and Tucker (the paranormal investigators who worked with Elise) to see if there was a way they could help uncover the strange events. Specks and Tucker call Carl, the spirit medium from 1986. Carl listens to Lorraine's story, and attempts to contact Elise on the other side through his word-dice. Through the dice, they are told "Our Lady of Angels" hospital is where they will find answers. Lorraine, Specks, Tucker, and Carl go to the hospital and are led to the ICU Unit. Lorraine then talks of a man named Parker Crane, a man who committed suicide by jumping off the roof many years ago. The four decide that Elise is leading them to this man's house. After breaking into Parker Crane's home, they find a black gown & veil and newspaper clippings about a man dressed as a woman who kidnapped & murdered his victims, (i.e. "The Dark Bride"). It is then revealed to them that it was not Elise speaking through the dice to them, but Parker's mother.

After leaving Parker's home, Lorraine insists that Renai (who is now awake) takes a ride, away from Josh. She explains the origin of "The Dark Bride" and the theory that the real Josh is trapped in the Further. At this same moment, Carl is attempting to drug Josh while Specks and Tucker monitor this through their van parked outside. The plan fails, however, and Carl, Specks and Tucker are all incapacitated by Josh. Josh then texts Lorraine from Carl's phone and says to return as everything is okay. Josh ambushes the two. While Lorraine is locked in the closet, Josh attempts to choke Renai but is knocked over the head with a bat by Dalton and Foster, who have returned home. After a struggle, Renai and the children escape to the basement where they barricade themselves in the laundry room. Dalton suggests he can save his father by falling asleep and returning to the Further to bring him back. He lays down in a corner with a can-telephone in his hands, as to know how to get back to the real world. Josh has now made his way into the room by hammering through the wall.

Meanwhile in the further, the real Josh stumbles upon Carl. The two look for Elise, finding her at the house the Lambert's lived in during Insidious 1. The three proceed to Parker's house where they witness Parker's memory of himself as a child. His mother is abusing him in attempt to convince him "Your name is NOT Parker, it's Marilyn. You're a girl". The mother notices the group seeing this and locks Carl and Elise out of the room. When Josh turns around, the room is dark and filled with bodies covered by sheets. Upon finding Parker's mother hiding under one of them, the two fight. Young Parker appears, as Elise asks him to open the door for them and that they can set him free. Just as she is about to choke Josh to death, Elise (who has managed to get back in the room) saves him by hitting Parker's mother from behind with a rocking horse. After the three escape, Josh hears Dalton calling. Elise explains that Josh and Carl do not belong in this realm and must return home. Carl, Josh & Dalton follow the string from the can-telephone back into real time.

Josh, (who collapsed in real time after Parker's mother was hit by the rocking horse) and Dalton wake up as themselves, a feeling of relief encompasses the room. Tucker comes through the door, which startles everyone. Carl hypnotizes Dalton and Josh to forget their astral projection abilities and everything that happened with it. The screen fades to white and Specks and Tucker are shown knocking on a door to another home. As they are speaking with family members about their daughter Allison, Elise walks into the house to speak to a comatose Allison in a chair (similar to Dalton in "Insidious"). A creaking noise and shadow rises behind the girl just as Elise shockingly exclaims "Oh My God". It is hinted the creaking noise is the demon from the first film.

Cast

• Patrick Wilson as Josh Lambert
  • Garrett Ryan as young Josh
• Rose Byrne as Renai Lambert
• Ty Simpkins as Dalton Lambert
• Lin Shaye as Elise Ranier
  • Lindsay Seim as young Elise
• Barbara Hershey as Lorraine Lambert
  • Jocelin Donahue as young Lorraine
• Steve Coulter as Carl
  • Hank Harris as young Carl
• Leigh Whannell as Specs
• Angus Sampson as Tucker
• Andrew Astor as Foster Lambert
• Danielle Bisutti as Mother of Parker Crane
• Tom Fitzpatrick as Bride in Black / Old Parker
  • Tyler Griffin as young Parker
• Michael Beach as Detective Sendal
• J. LaRose as Long-haired fiend
• Brooke Peoples as Neighbor Jessica
• Edwina Findley as Front Desk Nurse Hillary
• Stephanie Pearson as Dark-haired woman
• Jorge Pallo as Brian
• Priscilla Garita as Natalie
• Jenna Ortega as Annie
• Dannay Rodriguez as Allison

Production

Development

After the financial success of Insidious in April 2011, discussions for a sequel soon followed. With producer Jason Blum insisting on the return of director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell, a treatment script did not arrive until nearly a year later. "As long as there was a chance that James and Leigh were gonna write the second movie and direct the second movie, I didn't want to do it with someone else," said Blum. "They kept saying they might do it, they might not do it, which was why there's quite a bit of time between the two movies." On February 2, 2012, it was announced that director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell were in talks to return for the sequel.

While promoting The Conjuring (2013) at New York Comic Con in October 2012, Wan described how he and Whannell were working closely on developing the story and the script for the follow up to Insidious, explaining to ShockTilYouDrop.com, "I think the sequel to Insidious is kind of my reaction to Saw where for my own reason I wasn't as involved in the sequels, and so I felt with Insidious, think it would be good to shepherd it and keep it more in track to the version I had when I made the first film so that it doesn't detour too far."

The film received the title of Insidious: Chapter 2 because it is a direct continuation of the first installment. However, the tone of the film was to be more grounded than in the first film, with Wan citing his work on The Conjuring as an influence to how he and Whannell approached Insidious: Chapter 2. "I pulled things from Insidious that I applied to The Conjuring, and what I learned from The Conjuring I applied to Insidious 2," said Wan. "So for me, I feel like it's a cumulative filmmaking experience that I've gathered over the years."

Casting

On November 19, 2012, it was officially announced that Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Ty Simpkins will reprise their roles from the first film. The following month it was announced that Barbara Hershey will also be returning. In February 2013, Jocelin Donahue and Lindsay Seim rounded out the cast as younger versions of Hershey and Shaye's characters, respectively. It was also confirmed that the film's screenwriter Leigh Whannell and actor Angus Sampson will reprise their roles as Specs and Tucker, respectively. When asked about the return of the two characters, Whannell explained, "There was this hatred that spewed out from fans saying 'I hated those guys! They sucked! They ruined the movie!' so there will probably be a lot of people out there who will be disappointed to hear that the Specs and Tucker characters will be coming back."

Filming

Principal photography for Insidious: Chapter 2 began on January 15, 2013 in Los Angeles. Having a slightly higher production budget than its predecessor, the film was captured over the course of 25 shooting days. A large portion of filming took place at the Linda Vista Community Hospital. In addition to the defunct hospital being redressed as its former hospital setting, sets from the first film were recreated on the location (including the living room to the Lambert family's second house).

Music

The musical score to Insidious: Chapter 2 is composed by Joseph Bishara, who previously collaborated with director James Wan on the first installment as well as The Conjuring. "Finding the right range and tone for the feeling is an important part," described Bishara on generating tension through sound. "James is very particular with sting placement along with Kirk, our editor on both Insidious films and Conjuring. Silence can create a listening space, where rather than give you something else to listen to it enables you to hear things."

A soundtrack album for the film was released digitally on September 10 and will be released on CD and Vinyl on October 8, 2013 by Void Recordings. Additional songs featured in the film include:

• "Waiting For You" by Alan Ett
• "Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 35, 2nd movement" by Frédéric Chopin

Distribution

Marketing

Prior to being official announced, Sony Pictures Entertainment registered various domain names on November 28, 2011 for Insidious: Chapter 2. On January 30, 2013, the first picture from the set of the film was released via writer Leigh Whannell's Twitter account. Additional behind-the-scenes photos from the set of the film were released the following month. In April 2013, the first promotional poster for the film went on display at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The first theatrical trailer for the film was screened to a live audience on location at the Linda Vista Community Hospital on June 4, 2013, with an online release the following day. On August 10, 2013, it was announced at the convention Scare L.A by producer Jason Blum and Universal's creative director John Murdy, that a maze attraction entitled "Insidious: Into the Further" will featured at the 2013 Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Theatrical release

While originally intended to be released on August 30, 2013, Insidious: Chapter 2 was rescheduled for a September 20 release date. The film's release date was later moved again to September 13, 2013, which "happens" to be the infamous "Friday the 13th".

On the night prior to its theatrical wide release, the film was shown in select theatres as part of a double feature with the first installment. A red carpet premiere for the film was held in Los Angeles on September 10, 2013.

Reception

Box office

Preliminary reports have the film tracking for a $32"$35 million debut in North America. The film earned $1.5 million from its Thursday night showings, and reached a $20 million Friday total, making it the biggest opening day in September box office history. The film debuted at #1 during it's opening weekend, taking $41 million at the box office.

Critical response

Insidious: Chapter 2 has received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes sampled 80 reviews and judged that 36% of the reviews to be positive. Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 41 (out of 100) based on 23 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave the film a positive review, stating that "the scares are mostly very scary indeed, and that means the film does its job." Scott Foundas of Variety praised the "artfully eerie" cinematography work of John R. Leonetti and the "pervasively unsettling atmosphere" constructed by sound designer and editor Joe Dzuban. Foundas further wrote that "where so many sequels seem like mere remakes of their predecessors, with bigger budgets and less imagination, Insidious: Chapter 2 feels like a genuine continuation of characters we enjoyed getting to know the first time around, and wouldn't at all mind returning to again."

Conversely, Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times commented, "After the pleasurable free fall into old-fashioned nightmare artistry that was last summer's The Conjuring, this busy-yet-dull sequel feels like Wan robotically flexing his manipulation of fright-film signposts, an exercise more silly than sinister." Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Setting aside the movie's tediously lame dialogue, self-conscious performances and frequently predicable scares, the narrative's compulsively shifting chronology intermittently manages to engage, although it does little to obscure the distracting shortcomings of both plot and character development."

Sequel

On September 12, 2013, when asked about returning for another sequel if Wan were to pursue him, Wilson stated that he "[doesn't] know if [James Wan] would". Wilson went on to say that he "[doesn't] know where else it could go", and that "[Josh Lambert has] been through the ringer, and I think the movie sets it up well at the end [...] And that's great, that's how it should end."