Review of Insidious (2011) by Kriss T — 12 Jun 2015

Chilling and eerie are the way to describe the first half of James Wan's original horror flick however once the midpoint climax hits the films develops into something else entirely and becomes a typical scary movie that scuppers the strong opening half.

Tonally the film starts slow and sombre with the colours saturated in preparation for what is to come however the tone shifts when the spirit chasers are introduced and the film struggles to recover. It also fails in that we witness the spooky goings on through the eyes of Rose Byrne but the climax forgets her and uses Patrick Wilson as the hero. This makes the journey of Rose Byrne feel pointless especially since her character arc now becomes non-existent.

Rose Byrne is the stronger performer however and you feel her fright with every look she gives and despite the other performers doing their role justice (bar Whannel and Sampson) it is Byrne who brings you onside.

The demon looks frightening but at time cartoonish compared to the other freaky beings and after the speak of his dangers they over come his powers all too easily.

All in all it starts off strong but unfortuantely fails to stay at its peak and soon disperses into something rather ordinary.