20 Times Directors You Trust Totally Let You Down
6. James Wan - Insidious Chapter 2
The Director:
Despite a stumble after the original Saw film, James Wan has now established himself as a master of horror and the king of the jump scare. He also dabbles in blockbuster films.
The Film:
Insidious is one of the best horror films of the decade, and made for a nerve-shredding and beautifully directed thrill ride. Against all expectations, Insidious Chapter 2 was dreadful.
There was no reason for this to be so awful. Not only are there no memorable scares, but the plot of this consists mainly of tying up loose ends from the first film, rather than bothering to be its own movie. This really is a case of zero-effort, but looking on the bright side, James Wan actually has a valid excuse for this failure.
This came out in the same year as The Conjuring, which is maybe the single best American horror film of the 2010s. It seems James Wan put all his effort into that, and was too distracted to make this an even remotely watchable sequel.
Has He Bounced Back?
Very much so. Furious 7 was excellent and so was The Conjuring 2, proving he can do a sequel just fine. He's directing DC's Aquaman, so he's keeping busy.