Insidious Is Scary -- What More Do You Want?

Rating: 7/10 (21 April 2011)

James Wan, the director of the cult classic SAW returns to make what might be one of the greatest PG-13 horror films ever made. Things may start off a bit slow, but when things start to get rolling the scares don't stop until the very end. You'll be grabbing your arm chair and covering your mouth to avoid screaming the entire time.
Let me just say that this review is coming from a very skeptical, very anti-horror film kind of guy. I had low expectations for Insidious and was expecting to just laugh and make fun of the dumb characters on screen. Instead, I was met with an intense and sometimes just downright scary thriller that had me at the edge of my seat to the very end. I think what holds this entire movie together is the music. It intensifies every situation and is what separates its self from other realistic horror movies like Paranormal Activity, which for the sake of realism, didn't have any. The screeching violins, and banging and clawing come together to make a reckless, terrifying soundtrack that ensures that your scared even with your eyes closed.
Another strength that Insidious has and most horror movies don't is great acting. The entire cast, although small, makes this film very believable. The main characters feel real so you care what happens to them. Most horror movies fail to make you care at all about any of the characters involved, but you're able to connect with them in Insidious. The script writing is good, I can see some of the lines from this becoming remembered like the famous, "He doesn't want us to cut off our chains. . .he wants us to cut off our feet" line from Saw. I'm not gonna spoil anything but the ending sort of let me down and left some questioned unanswered. Other then that, I enjoyed the script and every development within the film.
The bottom line is Insidious has everything you could possibly want from a PG-13 horror film and more. It's scary but it's also really good. I can see this becoming a cult classic in the near future. Anyone who enjoys horror movies will DEFINITELY enjoy this. However, this can be enjoyed by anyone. There's absolutely no gore and nothing that'll really gross you out if that's not your thing and I think that's just one more thing that makes Insidious so good. It'll make you scared out of your mind without blood and guts, something that horror movies can't seem to do nowadays.
***/*****