Review of Insidious (2011) by Sanchayan S — 12 Feb 2014

James Wan's horror flick "Insidious" combines amazing dread , suspense , tension and a good concept with some terrible execution ,specially at the climax , less dramatic moments are predictable "round the corner" jump scares.

Yes , the movie has really great moments every time they went atmospheric and whenever it tried to combine it with old school moments that's when it dropped the string. The first half of the movie was sizzling filled with a terrific sense of haunt throughout after which followed an amazing concept which sets it apart from orthodox haunted-exorcism pattern.

But as the film progressed more and more ghosts seemed to pop up with some of the most terrible moments specially those maids smiling and the person whistling in the netherworld. But to top it all is the actual demon itself , who for most parts was described to have a fiery face and eyes like "dark holes" but then when they revealed it , well its "DARTH MAUL" from star wars.

That two-sided lightsaber wielding sith who died in one of the movies only to come to Hell itself and well now he is playing with puppets and listening to the 20s "Jazz". When the scariest element of the picture is revealed in such a way the entire fear element drops and then it becomes just predictable.

Also there is a slight twist at the end and that part was a bit creepy to my senses. Also the soundtrack and the music must be complemented for creating such a heavy atmosphere. The opening act of the movie had some of the most bizarre sound effects but in a beautiful and haunting way - in fact it made the opening act very creepy and quite scary.

Cinematography was good for most of the film with plenty of good "over the shoulders" shots that add to the heaviness of the surrounding. Screenplay was good but again the second half of the movie went as predictable as possible and if it were not for the final act this movie could have been one of the great horror movies of our times.

But sadly it is not.