Review of Insidious (2011) by Dan S — 07 Sep 2013

A riveting horror movie from the minds of James Wan and Leigh Whannel detailing the terrorizing of a family (headed by Patrick Wilson and Rose Bryne), whose son (Ty Simpkins) falls under a suspicious coma, and as a result the house they reside in is haunted by disturbing forces.

I have to admit this movie caught me by surprise. I didn't expect it to be that scary, given it's PG-13 rating, nor did I expect the amount of scares to hit on such a heavy frequency, and as a result this is the best PG-13 horror movie since "The Ring" (which is very hard to do, seeing PG-13 horror films are limited in their blood-and-guts output).

The acting is uniformly outstanding, most notably Lin Shaye who is given the film's toughest task as a ghost-expert granny, and she comes in and steals the film. A lot of critics complain that the third act falls apart, which I don't understand completely.

To me, it is just as suspenseful and enthralling as the first two acts. I'm glad to see Wan is back in top form here, it's been a while since he showed his balls directing a gritty film like "Saw", but this is just a terrifically conceived film that borrows from "The Poltergeist", "Twin Peaks", "The Exorcist", and "The Shining", but is able to still somehow stay on its own feet at the end as a phenomenal ride and an outstanding movie as a whole.