INSIDIOUS

With Patrick Wilson, Rose Burn, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, Barbara Hershey, Angus Sampson, Leigh Wannell

Written by Leigh Wannell
Directed by James Wan

Writer Leigh Wannell made quite a splash with the original Saw movies, sending the horror genre into a direction that first got praised as a welcome shake-up, then ultimately condemned as mainstreaming the torture-porn genre (James Wan also directed Saw and produced the bulk of them).
But with the Insidious screenplay the subject goes from visceral, physical and gory horror to that of the ghostly, supernatural realm, with tense psychological scares very well crafted and executed.

Borrowing from the mid-'80s classic Poltergeist but in stead of a haunted house, takes the angle of the child being the haunted vessel. Here the Lambert family's lives are turned upside down when spirit activity in their house turn nasty, one particular force drawn to their boy Dalton, adamant on taking him over. The child falls into a coma state, but in effect has entered another realm (dubbed The Further) where these restless spirits dwell, and those with the ability, can enter. With the help of an eccentric paranormal team, his father Josh has to enter this world to get his son back (a terrifying place with scares around many corners). In addition to this, Mr. Lambert also has some ghosts from the past (revealed in photograph blemishes) that come to the surface.

The filmmakers cultivate a great mood and sets the audience up for some creepy and spine chilling scares (the soundtrack also contributing greatly), in effect taking the viewer back to a horror cinema that ironically takes a u-turn from where they sent it with the Saw franchise a decade earlier.
A breath of fresh air for the genre.

6 / A
- Paul Blom

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Check out the entire Insidious trilogy : :