The Conjuring director returns with Insidious: Chapter 2

MANILA, Philippines - Australian director James Wan is one of the most intelligent and creative filmmakers working today. He recently conquered global box-office with the blockbuster supernatural thriller The Conjuring which is based on the story of husband-and-wife psychic investigators who come across a horrific case involving the hauntings of a Rhode Island farmhouse.

Previously, Wan co-created the Saw franchise, the most successful horror-film series of all time.

Now, the newly-crowned master of horror brings to the screen the terrifying thriller Insidious: Chapter 2, the sequel to the disturbing and original 2011 psychological horror thriller Insidious.

In Chapter 2, a haunted family struggles to uncover a terrifying secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. The sequel reteams the cast of the first film, including Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye and Ty Simpkins.

“We’re super excited at the chance to continue telling the story we started in the first film,” says Wan. “I love the characters we created in the first film, and it’s great to come back to work with the same cast and crew. It’s like coming home to a family. But it’s also very scary because the success of the first film took us all by surprise.”

“The first film had a single vision — James and screenwriter Leigh Whannell’s — pushing it forward without any kind of interference or creative compromises,” producer Jason Blum says. “I believe that’s one reason the film did so well, so we didn’t want James or Leigh to make any creative compromises with the sequel either.”

The filmmaking duo, whose creative partnership goes back to their college days in Melbourne, Australia, say their inspiration has always come from trading ghost stories with one another. Even during the filming process, they constantly bounce around ideas and concepts that they then incorporate into the film.

“If you have enough similarities, or if the same stories excite you, then it’s really easy to work together,” says Whannell. “James and I are pretty in sync that way, especially when it comes to horror.”

Or as Wan puts it: “We’ve always tried to scare the crap out of each other. And then one day we said, ‘We should put this in a movie!’ And that’s literally what we did for Insidious. We took all the scares, all the great ghost stories we’d heard, and put them in the film.”

The film hit a nerve, connecting with audiences domestically and abroad.

The filmmaking duo sees Insidious: Chapter 2 as more of a psychological thriller than a horror film. While Insidious was infused with haunted-house-film archetypes, Wan says Chapter 2 focuses less on gore and CGI effects than on tapping into audiences’ most basic childhood fears.

“I would describe it as a domestic thriller with a supernatural edge to it,” Wan says. “The ghouls are coming back, but this film isn’t about that as much. I feel like I’ve already established the characters, so now I can get into them without being too gimmicky, while still keeping those elements that people love. The first one was a lot more straightforward, which is great for a first movie, but in a sequel you want to expand on the mythology. You want to show people more of the world you’ve created, and that’s what we did with Chapter 2.”

Opening in theaters on Sept. 18, Insidious: Chapter 2 is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. For details, log on to www.columbiapictures.com.ph.