Review of Insidious (2011) by The D — 03 Jun 2013

(8/10).

Insidious is a really scary horror film directed by James Wan (Dead Silence, Saw) and it stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. I wanna start off by saying that this movie creeped the pants off of me. The first half of this movie was easily the best part of the movie for me. The first half of the film was nearly perfect in almost every way. The movie does get weaker at around the half-way point, but the second half is still an enjoyable ride.

The plot goes like this: Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne play husband and wife. They move into an old house with their son Dalton. They are getting settled and their son is playing in the attic when all of a sudden, Dalton inexplicably falls into a deep coma. Soon, weird things start happening around the house as they struggle to uncover the reason behind their son's coma.

This is a fairly simple set up for a horror movie, but it is executed extraordinarily well thanks to the sure hand of James Wan. It turns out he is an excellent horror director. This film, especially during the first half, is all sort of terrifying. If you're tired of horror movies that are boring and laughable instead of scary, then you should check out Insidious. The film starts to get weaker once a group of paranormal investigators come in. The paranormal investigators cannot act to save their lives and it's kind of difficult to take them seriously. Even though they aren't the greatest actors and they provide some eye-rolling moments, there is a seance scene with them that might make you shit your pants because it's incredibly scary.

In the final third of the film, it becomes less scary and more absurd, but it still remains entertaining and fun. There's a really cool scene involving Patrick Wilson walking through a sort of haunted house scenario during this part of the film that's very stylistic with an unsettling vibe. Also, the demon itself doesn't really look that scary, he looks more like a cartoon or Darth Maul.

Even though there are some questionable storytelling decisions during the second half of this film, Insidious is a very scary and very fun horror movie with some good performances and good use of music and atmosphere. This horror film stands out as one of the better ones in a long time and I highly recommend it.