Writer: Sophia Ling

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Watch this if you liked: "The Conjuring", "The Awakening" and "The Woman In Black"

Horror sequels are a funny thing. The genre itself relies on the element of surprise, unpredictability and shock value. When the story rehashes its predecessor's plot and features the same characters, it hardly invokes terror.

Fans of the genre will find it hard to discover a horror film that is original, creative and genuinely creepy. Once in a while audiences will hit the jackpot with films such as "Saw", "The Conjuring" and "The Orphanage". The original "Insidious" was one of those gems but does "Insidious: Chapter 2" live up to its predecessor?

"Insidious: Chapter 2" is director James Wan's first attempt at a sequel. The Malaysia-born director, who is known as one of the creators of "Saw", had just released his 2013 horror hit, "The Conjuring". He's had major success in scaring audiences thus far but this time he's fallen short.

In the follow up to James Wan's creepy 2011 horror hit "Insidious", the ghosts are back and it is still not the house that is haunted. So who could it be? This sequel shares many of the trademark horror tricks that is seen in Wan's films. It feels all too familiar and familiar doesn't work for a horror film. There were one or two pretty freaky and chilling scenes but apart from that, audiences will be met with the same scare tactics that have been used one too many times.

Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne reprise their role as Josh and Renai Lambert. Nothing much can be said about their performances. It was neither good nor bad. The same can be said for the rest of the cast. They gave an exceptionally average performance. In its entirety, the film was merely average at best.

As with any sequel, it's best to watch the first installment before walking into the second one although there are some flashbacks that will quickly bring audiences up to speed.

Cinema Online, 09 October 2013