MOVIE REVIEWS: INSIDIOUS 2

The last time a horror flick directed by James Wan hit the screens, it surprisingly drew rave reviews from critics. That film was The Conjuring, which went on to earn $135 million at the domestic box office and $260 million worldwide, putting it in the top five among all horror/supernatural films, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Wan’s latest film, Insidious 2, on the other hand, is getting the back of the hand from virtually every major critic. “A mess from start to finish” is the way Jeannette Catsoulis describes it in the New York Times. “Creatively bankrupt” is Michael O’Sullivan’s description of it in the Washington Post. But most critics simply take a ho-hum attitude towards it. “This is a typical feature of the Scooby Doo-derivative plotting,” remarks Sara Stewart in the New York Post, while Claudia Puig comments in USA Today, “Predictability lurks in every dusty nook of this sequel.” Several critics simply voice disappointment that Wan’s first outing following the critically successful The Conjuring appears so second-rate. As Robert Abele remarks in the Los Angeles Times: “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.”