Insidious: Chapter 2, a horrifying story of a little boy and his father trapped in a purgatory-type world known as the “further”, has terrified millions since it came out a few weeks ago. It is easy to say that the second movie is far scarier than the first, but was it a better movie over all? Not really.

The film has an extremely suspenseful plot line and a story that not only ties in seamlessly with the first film, but completes it. The way the director ties the two movies together brings the viewers a sense of consistency. Those who saw the first movie know it was about a little boy whose ‘soul’ is held captive by a demon in the world of the dead. Insidious is laced with ghosts and spirits haunting the lives of a normal American family. This theme is carried through to the second story, but with a much darker turn of events.

The second film is about the ghost of a serial killer who, while alive, killed many people. It is easy to convey this horrific scenario because serial killers exist in our world as well. Seeing footage from the original film brought into Chapter 2 combines the films beautifully and makes them one story, instead of feeling redundant and overused.

While the storyline was great, the scripting falls short, feeling unnatural and underwhelming. Some parts of the movie intended to be scary come across as almost comical. There was too much comical relief, yet not enough. The writers simply did not make the unreal become real. The truly frightening scenes usually involved something that could be real. This movie was not able to carry the weight of its events through its dialogue.

One can assume that there will be a few more movies in the Insidious saga. This idea is enforced by the fact that this movie is titled Chapter 2. The end of the movie foreshadows to a third film that will be released sometime in the future. Hopefully, the writers will be able to recover from the writer’s block they so obviously hit when scripting this film, and create an even scarier story the next time around.