it has moments but mostly its a waste and only scary because of a sudden loud noise

Rating: 3/10 (4 March 2011)

I saw a sneak preview of Insidious at Lincoln Center last night. There was much ballyhoo with the director, writer and stars in attendance. The film was talked up as being the next big thing in horror and as one of the scariest movies in years. Sadly the film didn't live up to it's hype.
The story of the film has family moving into a new house where weird things begin to happen. When one son falls into a coma and the weirdness begins to increase the family decides to change houses yet again. Unfortunately the problem was never the house, and the weirdness moves with them. I could tell you more but should you want to see the film yourself I think you should have some pretense of being surprised (which is hard since the story is so worn out you'll know way before everyone else what is going on)
The film is being marketed as being a film with no false scares, and that is true to some degree. There are no false jumps anywhere in the film. Unfortunately there aren't that many real scares anywhere in the film at all. There are jumps and starts, but few real scares. It's not that they aren't there it's simply that Director James Wan under cuts everyone of them by adding an exclamation point of VERY LOUD music with almost each one. The two creepiest moments, the first a figure behind a crib works because the noise doesn't come until after we've seen the figure for our selves. The other is a small figure in the background as Rose Byrne walks past it is scary in a "did I just see this" sort of way. The rest of the scares are undercut, as if Wan doesn't trust the audience. It's terrible and tiring.
If that wasn't bad enough the script, or at least the film that was cut together by Wan (he edited it) is derivative and unimaginative. The plot is basically a combination of Poltergeist, The Entity, Psychic Killer and any number of really cheap films from the 70's and 80's. Watching the film I was struck by how so many elements seemed to have been taken from other better and worse films. I kept thinking that if this was like movie X then Y would happen and sure enough it would. Almost nothing in this film seems original (even one of the creatures seems a copy of Darth Maul in Star Wars). Even worse, where most other horror films have occasional moves by the characters that are clearly stupid, illogical or the sort of thing that any rational person wouldn't do, this film is full of them. The plot hinges on repeated and frequent trips to the well of character stupidity, including a move at the end which assures a sequel.(I won't talk about the how unintentionally funny it is)
How can anyone feel this is the next big thing? Yes I applaud the lack of gore and false scares but outside of that what is there to keep your interest? Watching the film I was mostly bored. I wanted to walk out, but I waited to the end hoping that the film would pull itself together. It never happened and I walked before the director Q&A. I didn't care and anything I would have said to them would have been very impolite.
That said, the film does have moments. There are a few moments when the film creates tension and some truly frightening images, but they are wrapped up and hidden in a film that looks like it was made by a someone who was making his first film, not someone who's made one classic horror film (Saw) and few near misses.
If you must wait for TV.