Insidious Review

Synopsis
Shortly after Josh (Patrick Wilson), Renai (Rose Byrne) and their children move into their new home, strange things begin happening around the house. After an accident, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) slips into a coma, meanwhile Renai begins to see unexplainable things around the house. Thinking the house is haunted she convinces Josh to move the family into a new home. However, it soon becomes clear that it wasn’t the house that was haunted, but their son, Dalton.

Review
I’ve said this a few times but in case you didn’t know, I’m not a fan of horror movies. However, over the past few years, I have come around to a few sub-genres of horror films, namely supernatural horror. Mama and Insidious were the films that got me to budge on my no horror stance. Given that today is Halloween, I’ve decided to go back to one of the few horrors I’ve enjoyed (so far).

Many horror films like to rely on jump scares to get the audience’s heart pumping. Insidious employs this technique but it doesn’t use it in excess. Also, they aren’t “false” jump scares, meaning every time something is there to make you jump it’s because the thing is worth jumping at, such as a ghost or one of the demons. There isn’t anything like a door closing loudly or an object falling over to make you jump when in actuality it’s nothing to jump at.

A decent portion of the film, almost a third or more, is simply spent with the Lambert family before the antics happen. I liked this a lot because it allowed the characters to be fleshed out quickly and without interruption. So when the crap hits the fan, there is a connection with the characters and I cared more about them getting through their ordeal together and unscathed. They are a very relatable family and you may find aspects of you or your family in them.

The sound editing for Insidious greatly adds to the atmosphere. I am impressed by the score, composed by Joseph Bishara. It is eerie and creepy and just fits perfect, adding to the tense moments during the final act, as well as the intimate moments towards the beginning I mentioned before. Adding to the ambiance was the vivid colors, or rather deep reds, heavily present during the third act of the film. It gave off this uneasy feeling that fit the environment well.

If you look closely, this film is composed of several horror genres. It starts out as a haunted house film, then turns into a possession film, then into something all it’s own (or at least nothing I can classify, but as I said, my knowledge on the subject isn’t that extensive). It acts as a homage to these different types of film while trudging its own path, and doing so successfully. Rather impressive for a movie genre that can be considered saturated.

Despite my initial hesitation, I found myself enjoying Insidious. After watching this again, I’ve realized my horror survival kit doesn’t cover ghosts and demons and those are hard to outrun. So… yea. Oops. Anyway, Insidious is a fun twist on the horror genre that offers up several good (and meaningful) scares. Even if you think horror isn’t your thing, give it a try. Who knows, you may end up enjoying it like I did.

Rating
3.5/5

Trailer

Cast & Crew
James Wan – Director
Leigh Whannell – writer
Joseph Bishara – Composer

Patrick Wilson – Josh Lambert
Rose Byrne – Renai Lambert
Ty Simpkins – Dalton Lambert
Andrew Astor – Foster Lambert
Barbera Hershey – Lorraine Lambert
Lin Shaye – Elise Rainier
Leigh Whannell – Specs
Angus Sampson – Tucker
Joseph Bishara – Lipstick-Face Demon
Philip Friedman – Old Woman
J. LaRose – Long Haired Fiend
Corbett Tuck – Nurse Adele
Heather Tocquigny – Nurse Kelly

The Film Emotion Blogathon

Well would you look at that, I’m late to the party. I know, big surprise coming from me, the blogger who is cursed with giving late submissions and forgetting deadlines. I don’t know how you guys put up with me! Anyway, Conman has put together an excellent blogathon that I just had to participate in, and he is more than generous to allow my late submission. Look here for the rules. Thanks Conman for hosting such a wonderful blogathon! Let’s jump right into my picks, shall we?

Joy: Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

I know I’m in the minority here, but Return of the Jedi is my favorite of the Star Wars films.  It was the most action packed of the original trilogy, having not one, not two, but THREE battles occurring simultaneously. During the course of the movie, the Rebel Alliance gets their final victory over the evil Empire, destroying the Death Star II.  And Luke redeems his father, Anakin, destroying Darth Vader, who turns on his former master and killing Emperor Palpatine.  And Han and Leia finally express their love for each other. There is so much Joy to go around, the Ewoks celebration at the end perfectly expresses up my feelings. Or at least Yub Nub did. George Lucas, y u no like Yub Nub!?

Sadness: Toy Story 3

Let me first say that Toy Story 3 is a great movie. It is a nice evolution of the characters and messages of the previous two films and a great conclusion to their story.  The reason I included it as my Sadness pick is because it makes me cry harder than any other movie. I have only seen it twice, once in the theater and a few weeks ago as part of my Anniversary Week celebration, but the ending gets me every time.  Now, I don’t consider myself a crier. I get teary eyed for sure, but I don’t cry. Last time I watched Toy Story 3 cried. Hard. For like 10 minutes straight, before, during, and after the scene with Andy and Bonnie.  I’m so glad I was watching it alone…

Fear: Insidious

This emotion was a little difficult for me to think about because I don’t particularly care for horror films.  I probably could have though out of the box a little but I’m not that creative.  So when choosing one of the few I’ve actually seen, I decided to choose one that I actually liked.  I enjoyed Insidious because I have discovered that I don’t dislike supernatural horror films, like this or Mama, as much as other horror sub-genres. There are plenty of jump scares and the cinematography is pretty good with its use of lighting and shadows.

Anger: Rage

Rage somehow slipped by my radar. I didn’t even hear about it until about two weeks ago. The title “Rage” pretty much sums up my feelings about the movie.  The movie itself isn’t good but throughout the movie I was willing to go along with it. It never really built up to anything. Then the reveal happened and it hit a wall. This film didn’t slowly go down hill, it got their quickly and abruptly.  After the movie was done, I began ranting about how bad it was. Take this paragraph times, like, five for an example. I don’t rant often, so it felt good to let it all out.

Disgust: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Originally, this was going to be my pick for Anger. But the more I thought about it, it fit more under Disgust. For some reason, I really wanted to see this when it came out in the theater. I can’t remember what else was out around that time, but I convinced the rest of the group to go see this over whatever else they wanted to see. I immediately regretted my decision.  After the film was done, I apologized to my friends for making them go see this. It was a mess of a film and I can’t believe it actually got made. At first I was angry about how bad it was, then I realized my disappointment outweighed my anger. Hopefully Marvel will take a stab at the character because he is actually kind of cool.