Insidious (2011)

I love horror movies. And by horror movies, I’m not talking about slasher movies. I am talking about legitimate horror films that attempt to scare you and stay with you. And if they fail, at least they tried to do something more than have someone get cleaved in half by a plate of glass. Insidious not only tries to make a successful horror film, it pulls it off pretty dang well. And considering that it was produced by the director of what I feel is one of the worst attempts at psychological horror, Paranormal Activity, and directed by one of the creators of one of the kings of the gore-or (as I like to call it) genre, Saw, the feat is double impressive. The film is basically a remake of the 1982 film Poltergeist, which I love undeniably. Both of these movies have not scared me because of jump scares, but because of what might be a jump scare. And that is what makes a good horror film. And in all honesty, a good horror film is hard to come by these days. This is probably the single best horror movie I’ve seen since I saw The Last Exorcism last year. Every year there are about one or two really solid horror movies. And the main thing that made me sad about watching Insidious is that there is only one (or none, maybe, sadly) left this year. The film basically follows the simple plot of Poltergeist, being that a normal suburban family is haunted by ghosts. The young child is possessed, and is taken to a different dimension (the Other Side, the Further, it really doesn’t matter). And the villain at the end, where it was an unknown force in Poltergeist, here it is Darth Maul’s long-lost cousin, who for the sake of everything awesome, I am naming Frank. So Frank is after the kid, and with the help of psychics, his father (played by Patrick Wilson) goes into the other dimension to save him. With a plot that has been done very well before, I was skeptic of seeing this film, but I am glad I did. The only complaint I have about the film is Patrick Wilson’s performance. He just felt cardboard in the film. But the rest of the cast is very good, especially Rosa Byrnes, who has become one of my favorite up-and-coming actresses this year, with this film and X-Men: First Class. She, and the other actors (Wilson excepted) are very good here, and add to the suspense. And suspense there is many. The film is terrifying, dark, ingenious, and as soon as you think it’s going to have a nice little Poltergeist-like ending, it goes off into a direction you don’t expect, and has a nice little ending with a killer cliffhanger. I just pray that they don’t make a sequel. Because I do not want them to mess this film up. You know what? I’m probably not going to go to sleep tonight.
8.5/10