Review of Insidious (2011) by Trireeval — 24 Jul 2011

I'll admit- I saw this movie with LOW expectations. I didn't expect to like it at all. Now that this has been said:

The first parts of the film were a bit rushed. Within twenty minutes, we have a "Three Months Later" card. Despite this, there were some genuinely creepy moments, with some good atmosphere and even a bit of tension. Still, these moments lacked any central focus, and generally felt unconnected and confusing. (Which may have been interesting if not for certain things that I'll mention later...).

By the second third of the movie, things REALLY went downhill. We are introduced to several characters in a short time (including a priest who has all of ONE line, if I remember correctly.) and rather quickly given an elaborate pseudoscience explanation for the issues at hand. (What's great about this is it turns the remainder of the film into flat-out comedy!) Things get very silly by the end, but the film doesn't seem to notice, treating even the most preposterous things as if they actually had the possibility of scaring people.

In its entirety, "Insidious" feels contrived, pretentious, and rushed.

To conclude: If you watch this for the horror, you will be sorely disappointed. If you watch it for the horrifying monsters who enjoy the musical stylings of Tiny Tim, you'll be one happy astral projector.