A Phenomenal New Horror Film!

Rating: 9/10 (22 October 2011)

I've been hearing praise towards this movie all year long, and since this October 2011 has been a rather stale Halloween season for newly released horror films, I decided it was time to see Insidious for myself. I'm glad I finally did. Insidious is a phenomenal new horror film that starts off as an all too familiar haunted house tale, but then quickly takes the viewer on a very creative and unique journey. The cinematography is brilliant; full of dark narrow hallways with clocks, winding staircases, and shadows lurking in the corner. The sound effects are spine tingling and the eerie violin shrieks and mellow gongs from the musical score perfectly set the mood. The acting is also very good for a horror film.
A quick plot summary; Insidious is about a young family who moves into a creepy old house. An incident in the attic causes their eldest son to fall dormant in a coma-like state. Strange occurrences and hauntings begin to take place forcing the family to leave and move into a new home where the hauntings continue to happen. A psychic reveals to them that their son is the cause and that ghosts and demons are trying to get into his body to bring pain towards others.
Now I must admit, Insidious did not scare me as much as I thought it would, but it certainly has some very creepy moments and is up there with some of the scarier movies I've seen in my life. For one that red demonic creature is terrifying! - especially the first time it appears, in broad daylight behind the grandmother who is describing her dream. Nowhere is safe now. I wasn't expecting it at all, and the special effects team did a frighteningly good job on its features; hoofs and all! That's when I realized that this horror film was for real; the rest of the film left me tensed and waiting for that thing to appear again. I should mention that one of its later appearances was a very cool scene that reminded me of Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street, the demon is sharpening it's claws in a chilling red sanctuary.
Aside from that the atmosphere of both the houses creates very uneasy environments and works well in the film. The séance scene was really adrenaline inducing as well and is a great example of how well this film worked to create fear without being overly gory and violent. In this scene one of the paranormal investigators is writing really disgusting things on paper that the demon is apparently saying; this allows the viewer's imagination to run rampant. Another notable part of this movie is the hellish journey the father must take at the end in order to save his son. This mind-bending quest allowed the filmmakers the freedom to do anything in order to make sure we (the viewers) would not sleep at night. It also breaks the rules of reality putting the viewer even more on edge to the fact that he/she has no idea what to expect anymore. This was brilliant story writing and filmmaking!
For all the praise I have given Insidious, I took some points off primarily because some of the plot line was pretty far-out there. The fact that the kid has the gift to allow his spirit to travel out of this world when he sleeps was slightly vague; can that kid ever sleep sound again? Also the ending, although it was a good twist, could have been a bit better. I still don't really know how the father and creepy demon lady got switched around or what really was going on as they were facing each other down at the climax. So a couple vague plot elements, but overall they can be easily overlooked to allow for an enjoyable film experience.
In conclusion, Insidious is a spectacular new horror movie that stands out from many of the rest. I'm excited to say that James Wan is finally beginning to establish himself as one of the great new horror directors of film having done Insidious, Dead Silence, and of course Saw.