"Insidious" tells the story of a family in turmoil after their son, Dalton, falls into an unexpected coma. But there is much more to this illness than meets the eye, as they delve into the world of the paranormal to bring back the spirit of their son.
Advertised as a horror, I was surprised at the direction this film took. The first half sets up a very tense, traditional ghost story, nodding towards the ghostly cliches (Rocking horses, closing doors etc). With some genuinely unsettling scenes which even though I have seen the like time and time again still held some "umph". Not terrifying but...just creepy enough to hold interest.
The cast is adequate, with Patrick Wilson as the father of the piece, convincing and strangely relate-able even throughout the surreal second act. The other two stand out performances come from the "Comedy" double act found in Paranormal Investigators "Specks N Tucker" (Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson), when I say stand out, I really don't mean that in a positive way, their knowingly kooky mannerisms appear just at the moment the film takes a turn for the worse...and the plain weird.
I don't want to spoil the wonderfully original way the movie twists, but lets just say this film attempts to put a new spin on the old ghost story. Involving other dimensions and inception style dream hijacking. However admirable the intentions of this fresh take, I found it frustratingly misguided, jumbled and embarrassing. Unfortunately this results in destroying the nervous horror built up so well in the first act and replaces it with a comic book villain fantasy. The kind of thing a student would experiment with in film school. Sadly we are treated to a never ending cast of ghosts and ghoulies who looked like they belong in a kids channel Halloween special. Almost pantomime at times. Too many spirits spoil the broth? Something like that.
I understand what James Wan wanted to do, and I admire his intentions, the execution of this filmic experiment is just so lost and disappointing that when the credits rolled I felt cheated of the well crafted ghost story established in the first 60 mins.
I genuinely hope that this film is remade one day (one of the rare occasions I encourage such things) but with a more controlled and stable plot.
Overall its not a terrible piece of film, I commend the ambition of its creators, but can't recommend it as scary night at the movies.
2 movies for the price of 1 isn't always a good thing.
2.5 out of 5
review by Joseph Carter
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