Pure scares

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 2011)

I think "Scream 4" said it best when it comes to the state of horror films nowadays. It's all either torture porn or failed reboots of famous classic horror franchises (If they decide to remake "Jaws" or "The Exorcist" I'll never forgive them), or worse, dumb them down to PG-13 tween-friendly spooks that will barely raise an eyebrow for classic horror fans.
"Insidious" does not follow today's trend. It's not gory or bloody, it does not have sex scenes or too much foul language. The PG-13 rating is justified. The movie's sole purpose, like many horror movies, is to scare the crap out of us. And it does. Brilliantly. Using good old fashioned scare tactics without making them cheap - remember the cliché where there is incidental music build up to a probably scary killer/ghost only to cop out to a scared animal or whatever? Nope. None of that here. The music comes strictly when it scares you. The non-music parts greatly serve to build the tension so high to the point that you can cut the tension with a knife. It's old school. I like old school.
In fact, it's so old school with the delivery of the scares, that one may mistake the film for being stuck in between the 1970's or 1980's. Director James Wan and writer Leigh Whanell, together with producer Oren Peli, probably fashioned the film to be a homage to the great spook horror films of the past, most notably "Poltergiest", with bits of "The Exorcist", "The Shining" and Peli's own "Paranormal Activity" thrown in for very good measure.
A script which is a homage to other films can either sink or swim. This one swims, because Whanell uses the classic scare elements and removes the clichés. Wan directs with caution, going mostly against audiences' expectations. The actors play their role straight as per the crew - Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson are very good in their roles, and Lin Shaye is a bit creepy as the medium who helps them. With the music by Joseph Bishara effectively eerie at many parts and some truly spooky production design and camera work, Wan's tense direction propels a homage script into their own - a great, solid horror flick that does exactly what it's supposed to do - scare - brilliantly.
Look at the horror film directors of the past. John Carpenter. Wes Craven. Tobe Hooper. The granddaddy of horror Alfred Hitchcock. Even Sean Cunningham has a cult following. Does anyone familiar with horror films remember names like Samuel Bayer or Nelson McCormick? Granted, Alexandre Aja and Neil Marshall has done some fairly solid stuff, yet Eli Roth to be honest tries too hard. James Wan isn't up there with the greats yet, but if he keeps up this old-school trend without copping out, he just might very well be. I'm just saying.
This is great stuff for a horror film. This was how scary movies were made in the past, this is how it still should be.
Overall rating: 80/100