Impressive, atmosphere-driven horror.

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2012)

Titles that spontaneously spring to mind when reviewing "Insidious" are "Poltergeist", "The Haunting" and "The Exorcist". Now, you'll have to admit that there are far worse movies in the genre to get compared with! "Insidious" is another collaboration between the multi-talented writer/actor Leigh Whannell and the multi-talented director James Wan. The duo was previously responsible for the original – and undoubtedly still the best – "Saw" and the creepy ventriloquist chiller "Dead Silence". Especially compared to their gore-soaked debut feature "Saw", "Insidious" is a completely different kind of horror movie. It's a mature and effectively slow-brooding horror story that thrives on atmosphere, intelligent plotting and a few imaginative themes that will keep even the most experienced and knowledgeable horror fanatics intrigued. The story opens like thirteen ghost movies in a dozen do A happy young family moves into their newly purchased dream house, but not much later their oldest son – presumably due to a banal fall from a ladder – slips into a mysterious coma that perplexes all medical experts. Renai, the mother, is convinced that somehow the new house is haunted and soon after begins to hear eerie noises through the baby monitor and see ghostly appearances in her boy's room. She manages to persuade her husband to move elsewhere, but when the strange paranormal occurrences continue, they get the professional help of a spiritual medium. She discovers that the son isn't suffering from an unknown illness, but that he's gifted with the ability to explore alternate dimensions during his sleep. Only,  he stepped across a dangerous boundary this last time. And, moreover, his gift seems to be hereditary Admittedly the first full hour of "Insidious" is rather uneventful and very vague, but Wan and Whannell nevertheless succeed in keeping you confident that the wait will be worthwhile. You just sense that it won't be another routine and clichéd haunted-house thriller. The ambiance is similar and the clues point in that direction, but the films admirably comes with an innovative twists on the supernatural themes. The last half hour is very powerful and contains a handful of truly efficient "jumpy" moments, albeit still without gore or expensive special effects! The last five minutes actually even qualify as the strongest horror finale I've seen in a few years. The acting performances are decent (great to see Barbara Hershey again!) and the set-pieces are well selected. I can only recommend this movie.