INSIDIOUS? No, just Insipid

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2011)

I don't see as many horror movies as I used to. Still, when I see one get good reviews, I try and check them out. With notices saying its everything from better than expected to 'the scariest movie since THE EXORCIST', I kinda looked forward to it. Added to that is that INSIDIOUS was co-produced by Oren Peli who's PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was effective in a minimalist way. The PG-13 rating likely toned down SAW director James Wan as much as Peli's involvement, but the combo works well enough. And, for the first 2/3 of INSIDIOUS it's an okay if more than mildly silly haunted house cum possession horror film. Sure, every terror cliché is milked for all their worth, the shock cuts are turned up to 11 and the music and sound effects are turned up to 12, but, the film was serviceable enough. It even has a perfectly decent climactic scene, plus a twisty epilogue.
But, then.........................
Wan and SAW writer Leigh Wannell tack on a ludicrous sequence that makes the prior silliness look downright grounded by comparison. Full of foolishness that provides more laughs (and many MORE clichés) than shrieks. Not satisfied with torpedoing what was already a compromised ending, Wan and Wannell add yet ANOTHER epilogue that levels the film completely. INISIDIOUS has simply become Insipid.