Insidious (20)
Official Synopsis
Shortly after moving into a new home, the Lambert family discovers that dark spirits are haunting them while their son, Dalton, has inexplicably fallen into a coma. Hoping to escape the supernatural activity, they move again, only to discover that the house was never the source of the haunting.
William’s Review
Insidious starts with one of the most familiar setups in horror. A family moves into a new house. Strange things begin happening. Their son falls into an unexplained coma. It sounds like the beginning of a haunted house movie we have seen countless times, but James Wan keeps taking those familiar pieces and moving them slightly to the left. That is what still makes this movie so effective.
As a longtime horror fan, I usually know when a scare is coming. Someone walks toward a closet or the camera slowly pans toward a dark corner, and you know exactly what the filmmaker is preparing you for. Wan understands those expectations and uses them against you. Sometimes he waits longer than expected. Sometimes the scare comes early. Other times he shows you something completely different. Even when I know he is setting me up, he still gets me.
I also love that Insidious does not depend on gore. There is almost no blood. The movie creates fear through shadows, movement, sound, and anticipation. Wan will hide something in darkness, then put another ghost directly in the light. A creepy kid can run across a room in broad daylight and somehow be just as effective as something barely visible in a dark corner.
The performances help ground everything. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne make the Lambert family believable, while Lin Shaye brings warmth and confidence once Elise enters the story. Even the child performances work, which can be difficult in a horror movie.
What I appreciate most is how Insidious takes recognizable horror ideas and finds a different way into them. Even the smartest decision imaginable in a haunted house movie actually happens. When Renai says they need to leave, Josh agrees and they move. The haunting simply follows them. That immediately changes what we thought the movie was about.
More than fifteen years later, the scares still work, the performances hold up, and James Wan still knows exactly how long to make me stare into a dark corner before deciding whether something is staring back.
As a longtime horror fan, I usually know when a scare is coming. Someone walks toward a closet or the camera slowly pans toward a dark corner, and you know exactly what the filmmaker is preparing you for. Wan understands those expectations and uses them against you. Sometimes he waits longer than expected. Sometimes the scare comes early. Other times he shows you something completely different. Even when I know he is setting me up, he still gets me.
I also love that Insidious does not depend on gore. There is almost no blood. The movie creates fear through shadows, movement, sound, and anticipation. Wan will hide something in darkness, then put another ghost directly in the light. A creepy kid can run across a room in broad daylight and somehow be just as effective as something barely visible in a dark corner.
The performances help ground everything. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne make the Lambert family believable, while Lin Shaye brings warmth and confidence once Elise enters the story. Even the child performances work, which can be difficult in a horror movie.
What I appreciate most is how Insidious takes recognizable horror ideas and finds a different way into them. Even the smartest decision imaginable in a haunted house movie actually happens. When Renai says they need to leave, Josh agrees and they move. The haunting simply follows them. That immediately changes what we thought the movie was about.
More than fifteen years later, the scares still work, the performances hold up, and James Wan still knows exactly how long to make me stare into a dark corner before deciding whether something is staring back.
Amy’s Review
I thought The Conjuring was the scariest movie I had ever seen. After watching Insidious again, I may have to change my answer. I remembered this movie being scary. I did not remember it being this scary.
I have watched a lot more horror since the first time I saw it, so I thought I would be tougher now. I was wrong. I was screaming, kicking my leg, talking to the screen, and saying no repeatedly like the movie might listen to me. Afterward, I would not even walk through our house normally. William had to stay beside me so he could block the dark hallway, but I also needed to get ahead of him because I did not want anything behind me. Then I did not want to enter a dark room first. We basically had to choreograph our way through the house.
Haunted house movies are already the type of horror that scares me most. Insidious takes everything I hate about them and makes it worse. Doors open by themselves. Alarms go off. Shadows move. People see things standing inside their house. Then James Wan occasionally puts something frightening right in the middle of a brightly lit room where I am supposed to feel safe.
What makes the movie work for me is that it is scary without being disturbing. There is no graphic gore or horrible imagery that leaves me wishing I could erase something from my brain. It is just fear. I can scream through the entire movie, then still appreciate how much fun I had being terrified. The cast is another reason it holds up. I love Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne is great, and Lin Shaye is perfect as Elise. The kids are good too, which is not always guaranteed when children have important roles in a horror movie.
I would have thought watching this again after all these years would make it less effective because I knew what was coming. Somehow, it did the opposite. I spent the entire movie tense, scared, and waiting for the next thing to get me.
I have watched a lot more horror since the first time I saw it, so I thought I would be tougher now. I was wrong. I was screaming, kicking my leg, talking to the screen, and saying no repeatedly like the movie might listen to me. Afterward, I would not even walk through our house normally. William had to stay beside me so he could block the dark hallway, but I also needed to get ahead of him because I did not want anything behind me. Then I did not want to enter a dark room first. We basically had to choreograph our way through the house.
Haunted house movies are already the type of horror that scares me most. Insidious takes everything I hate about them and makes it worse. Doors open by themselves. Alarms go off. Shadows move. People see things standing inside their house. Then James Wan occasionally puts something frightening right in the middle of a brightly lit room where I am supposed to feel safe.
What makes the movie work for me is that it is scary without being disturbing. There is no graphic gore or horrible imagery that leaves me wishing I could erase something from my brain. It is just fear. I can scream through the entire movie, then still appreciate how much fun I had being terrified. The cast is another reason it holds up. I love Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne is great, and Lin Shaye is perfect as Elise. The kids are good too, which is not always guaranteed when children have important roles in a horror movie.
I would have thought watching this again after all these years would make it less effective because I knew what was coming. Somehow, it did the opposite. I spent the entire movie tense, scared, and waiting for the next thing to get me.