Great Scares But Some Fizzle

Rating: Null/10 (30 August 2011)

Lets face it, its tough to come up with a new horror idea that's remotely plausible. Better to achieve a compromise regarding the suspension of belief or, as does INSIDIOUS, pay homage to other fine movies. This movie borrows heavily from POLTERGEIST, with some nod to THE SHINING and maybe even BEETLEJUICE. Rose Byrne is great, just very convincing, neither too low key nor over-the-top hysterical. Lin Shaye was superb, nothing short of a scene stealer! Barb Hershey -great scream, right from the school of Karen Black! Patrick Wilson's performance is a bit short, maybe a little too passive. Would've liked to have seen Sam Rockwell in this role! But the scares, which are truly an art form, are cleverly conceived and executed - really cannot ask for more in the horror genre nowadays. Unfortunately, the last portion of the film - the "netherworld" - is under achieving and not up to par with the first 80 minutes. But I must still give INSIDIOUS a thumbs-up!