Insidious: Chapter 2
FilmDistrict | Release Date: September 13, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
14
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
VarietyScott FoundasSep 12, 2013
A modestly scaled and highly pleasurable sequel to Wan’s low-budget 2011 smash that should have genre fans begging for thirds. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallSep 12, 2013
Wan in particular is pacing today's movie horror by reverting to the past. There's a touch of Hammer Films in his haunted house atmospheres, and Roger Corman in his groaning comic relief from the dread. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 15, 2013
Insidious: Chapter 2 may be somewhat uneven, but at a certain point near the end, I realized I hadn’t taken any notes during the second half. For all its weirdness, the film had utterly transported me. Bring on Chapter 3. Read full review
70
The DissolveKeith PhippsSep 12, 2013
Though Wan is stepping away from horror, at least for now, to direct the next The Fast And The Furious sequel, the latest Insidious entry suggests he’s a long way from running out of new tricks, or at least finding infinite variations on old ones. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesSandy CohenSep 12, 2013
It offers a good dose of non-gory scares, tells a story of supernatural time travel that recalls elements of “Inception,” and pays homage to the genre Wan and Whannell love. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 12, 2013
The sequel's not bad; it's not slovenly. Some of the jolts are effectively staged and filmed, and Wan is getting better and better at figuring out what to do with the camera, and maneuvering actors within a shot for maximum suspense, while letting his design collaborators do the rest. But Leigh Whannell's script is a bit of a jumble. Read full review
60
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 12, 2013
Wan remains a crafty enough director to draw your eye warily across the frame. You shouldn't feel so daft for flinching this time. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 12, 2013
The scares are mostly very scary indeed, and that means the film does its job. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerSep 19, 2013
The techniques of the movie, then, are sound. Wan still moves his camera and composes his shots with a patience that belies his dank Saw origins. But the cinematography isn’t as virtuosic this time around. Read full review
57
Film.comWilliam GossSep 15, 2013
Backtracking dilutes the few simple jolts that actually work. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsSep 13, 2013
A puzzle movie with too many unnecessary pieces and not enough essential ones, but it's superior to its predecessor in a few basic ways. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceySep 12, 2013
Continuing directly from where 2010’s "Insidious" left off, Insidious: Chapter 2 follows the further misfortunes of the Lambert family with diminishing insidious rewards. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubSep 12, 2013
If Insidious 2 exists solely because Insidious 1 made a ton of money, then at least credit Wan for making quality control a priority. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatySep 12, 2013
Its lack of both originality and any real memorable moments feels shameless and lazy. Adding insult, the movie ends on a cliffhanger, guaranteeing that Insidious: Chapter 3 will soon be coming to a theater near you. Read full review
40
Total FilmMark SamuelsSep 15, 2013
"Poltergeist" goes "Back To The Future" with only passable results in a film whose activity is more par for the course than paranormal. Read full review
40
Time OutMatt PatchesSep 13, 2013
Even before Wilson goes full Jack Torrance and Barbara Hershey shows up to investigate an abandoned hospital Scooby-Doo-style, one could technically call this sequel a gorefest—thanks to the guts of every other horror movie being splattered across the screen. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghSep 12, 2013
Except where “The Conjuring” invigorated horror-movie tropes with inventive application and strong characters, Insidious only wallows in them. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 12, 2013
This busy-yet-dull sequel feels like Wan robotically flexing his manipulation of fright-film signposts, an exercise more silly than sinister. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweSep 12, 2013
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. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 12, 2013
Comes upon a few quirky solutions and movie-ripoff scares before settling into a kind of coma. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 15, 2013
It is now weighed down by a second half that's equal parts incoherent, tedious, and repetitive. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 13, 2013
A bustling, overly busy mess. Read full review
25
New York PostSara StewartSep 30, 2013
At the start of Insidious 2, a young woman opens her mouth to speak and someone else’s voice comes out of her. Demonic possession? Nope, just some inexplicable dubbing to kick off this clunker of a horror sequel. Read full review
25
USA TodayClaudia PuigSep 12, 2013
Insidious: Chapter 2 appears to be the sum of the unusable parts from James Wan's recent haunted house feature "The Conjuring." Read full review
25
Slant MagazineChris CabinSep 12, 2013
A full realization of the very worst fears one could imagine when its director, James Wan, unexpectedly emerged from the torture-porn murk with its original, spiritedly directed predecessor. Read full review
25
The PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinSep 12, 2013
Why, besides a stellar opening weekend, does this extended narrative exist? Read full review
20
Village VoiceNick SchagerSep 17, 2013
Insidious Chapter 2 picks up where its predecessor left off-- in abject silliness. Read full review
20
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 12, 2013
A mess from start to finish — though, judging by the ending, this story won’t be over any time soon — Insidious: Chapter 2 is the kind of lazy, halfhearted product that gives scary movies a bad name. Read full review
20
Time Out LondonNigel FloydSep 10, 2013
For all but the most forgiving horror fans, this is a lazy, stupid and incoherent failure. Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovSep 15, 2013
Insidious: Chapter 2 is perhaps an even more scattershot mess than its predecessor. Whannell's script is so rife with portentous backstory, third-act goofiness, and a denouement that practically screams "Insidious 3: Same Old Shit," that the film as a whole is jarring, and not in a good way. Read full review
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