A creepy movie that goes off the rails a bit at the end, but it's very good

Rating: 7/10 (16 February 2014)

A happy family suffers a situation they couldn't possibly fathom. Dalton falls into a coma, doctors can't figure out how it happened. Renai (Rose Byrne) calls in a medium Elsie Rainer (Lin Shaye) , much to Josh Lambert's (Wilson) chagrin. He eventually gives in and Elsie tells them their son is trapped in a realm called "The Further"
It's always nice to see a good old-fashioned ghost story, and who better at the helm than James Wan? James Wan knows how to deliver some scares that can give you goosebumps. He does a fantastic job of letting you use your imagination for scares, only showing snippets of the entities here and there. I thought they were very creepy for the most part, except for the silly looking demon thing at the end. He looked like a glorified elf. This movie is very similar to The Poltergeist in ways. Dalton is essentially in Heather O'Rourke's role, while Byrne & Wilson are in T. Nelson & Jobeth William's roles as the parents. It is derived a bit from The Poltergeist, but James Wan has his own vision and creativity to keep things fresh. It has a good build up as well. My only real carps about this movie is that it goes off the rails near the end. It runs a bit too long and it gets a bit silly. The huge twist with Patrick Wilson was OK at best, I wasn't all that pleased with it. I am also tired of the "I don't believe" storyline. It has become such a cliché over the years. The acting is solid. Rose Byrne is a pro and a woman I would help out any day of the week. I wanted to jump in the screen and hug her. Patrick Wilson is great as well. His character is a bit cold in the first half, but he pulls off his character change in the second half like a champ and I rallied behind him as well. Lin Shaye is very good as the Medium, managing not to overdo it. Barbara Hershey is wasted in her role, but she does have a couple of key moments. Ironically enough, she was the female lead in another ghost story, The Entity. Ty Simpkins is fantastic for his age as Dalton and I was very impressed
Final Thoughts: The twist at the end doesn't exactly set up a sequel, but we got it anyway. When money talks, logic walks. It's just the way it is in Hollywood. That being said, I really enjoyed this film for the most part. It's scary and well done. I'm looking forward to Insidious II, even if it isn't necessary
7.8/10