Movie Review: Insidious
By Megan Carroll
Finally, I can sleep without having the lights on in my bedroom! Thank God, I was thinking that might never happen again after seeing James Wan’s film, Insidious. Not since Poltergeist, the Exorcist or Stephen King’s It have I been so frightened after watching a film.
Insidious is an old-fashioned ghost story that is brought to a new level through its relentless and distressing pace. With your typical run-of-the-mill horror film, there are always moments built in so that the viewer can take a breath, unclench their fists, and take a moment to regroup (or in my case, unwrap myself from my boyfriend’s right side). Normally, the audience member can pick up on when those moments are going to happen, but Insidious never gives you that break. The tension is palpable and nothing is safe. You cannot trust what’s going to happen at anytime in this film. If, by accident, you slip into a sense of calm, the film will remind you very quickly to never let your guard down.
High-school teacher, Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson), and his wife, Renai (Rose Byrne), are the average, nice young couple. They have two young sons, Dalton and Foster (Ty Simpkins and Andrew Astor), and a new baby girl. Like any young family, they move into a modest home hoping for the best, but the boxes are not even unpacked when things start to unravel. Things disappear and mysteriously turn up in the spooky attic, Renai hears voices through the baby-monitor, and Dalton takes a minor tumble and ends up in an unexplained coma.
Once Dalton is back home, things proceed to get creepier and more openly malevolent. Unnerved by the constant harassment, the family moves, only to find it’s not the house that is haunted; it’s Dalton. Don’t worry, I am not going to divulge anymore of the story, but this is where the story deepens and a family history comes to light.
There have been comparisons made between this film and its predecessors such as Poltergeist and Paranormal Activity. I can see the point, but Wan brings a fear-inducing fresh spin that I found to be extremely effective and delightfully terrifying.
Insidious is a lower budget film that at times can be a bit cheesy. The special effects remind me of those old spook house rides at the carnival. Yes, it’s imitative, gathering things from other movies, but still, Wan takes this campy old -fashioned ghost story to a new level of fright.
If you like horror flicks, find a friend to hold on to and be ready for a frightening ride full of bumps and jumps that will leave you double-checking where all the light switches are in your home. Enjoy!
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