Insidious
Tags: boring, paranormal, horror, alternate reality, atmospheric, flashback, psychedelic, suspenseful

Plot synopsis:
At the beginning of the film, a shadowy old woman is seen inside a house while the inhabitants sleep.
Renai and Josh Lambert have recently moved into a new home with their three children. One morning, Renai looks through a family photo album with her son, Dalton, who asks why there are no pictures of Josh when he was a child. Renai reasons that he has always been camera shy and disliked taking photos of himself. One evening, Dalton sees the attic door open and goes to investigate after hearing sounds upstairs. As he enters inside, he tries to climb a ladder to turn on the light, but falls when the ladder cracks. As he falls to the floor, he seems to stare in horror at the darkness as if looking at something terrifying. Shaken, he is put to bed by Renai and Josh and told not to play in the attic because it is off-limits. The next day, Dalton does not awaken from his sleep. Renai and Josh rush him to the hospital, where the doctors say he is in an inexplicable coma.Three months later, Dalton is moved back to his home while still in a coma. Shortly after, disturbing events begin to occur. The first is when Renai hears a voice on the baby monitor which shouts "I want it now!", a bloody hand-print on Dalton's bed and a strange but frightening man in her infant daughter's bedroom. Renai becomes more disturbed when their youngest son, Foster, says he does not like it when Dalton "walks around" at night. Renai tells Josh about the events, but when she is assaulted by the strange man that night, she begs Josh and the family soon moves to another house.In the new house, the supernatural events continue to occur, such as a strange, dancing boy, and soon become increasingly sinister. Lorraine, Josh's mother, recalls having a strange dream of going inside Dalton's room in the night and seeing something standing in the corner, and when questioned "What do you want?", it replies "Dalton." Subsequently Lorraine sees a red-faced figure standing behind Josh that roars at her and Dalton is then violently attacked in his bedroom. This prompts Lorraine to contact a friend, Elise Reiner, who specializes in the investigation of paranormal activity. The family, Elise, and her team enter Dalton's room and Elise sees and describes a figure to one of her two assistants, who draws a black figure with a red face and dark hollow eyes on the ceiling of Dalton's room; the same figure that Lorraine had seen before in the house.Elise explains to Renai and Josh that Dalton has the ability to astral project while sleeping and that he has been doing it since he was very young. The reason that Dalton is in a comatose state is because he has fearlessly traveled too far into different spiritual worlds (he believes the projections are dreams) and has consequently become lost in a land called "The Further", a place for the tormented souls of the dead. While Dalton's spirit is in this other world, he has left nothing but a lifeless body. The tormented souls crave another chance at life through Dalton's state, while there are others (possibly the old woman and the frightening man) who are more malicious in using him, and then there is the red-faced figure, revealed to be a demon, who wants to use Dalton for a more malicious intent. However, for a spirit to consume a body, a period of time and energy are required.Skeptical at first, Josh later relents when he discovers Dalton had been drawing pictures which resemble the demonic figure Elise described. They run a session to try to communicate with their son but Dalton appears and the demon uses Dalton's body to fight the group, along with other entities who want Dalton's body. After the session, Elise calls Lorraine and the two reveal to the couple that Josh also can astral project and was terrorized by an evil spirit during his childhood. Lorraine shows them pictures from Josh's childhood, revealing a shadowy old woman (the same woman from the beginning of the film) behind him. The more photographs taken of Josh, the closer the shadowy woman begins to get to Josh until she is inches away from him, explaining his fear of photos. Elise suggests that Josh should use his ability to find and help return Dalton's soul, to which Josh agrees.To prepare to astral-project and find his son, Elise sits him in a chair and places him in a trance. Josh suddenly awakes to find that he has astral-projected seeing his own self asleep in the chair as well as the others in the room. He proceeds outside in a misty emptiness in an attempt to find his way to Dalton. After encountering a boy who points him back towards a house (the same home that the Lamberts moved out of), he proceeds, only to encounter a family who is shot by a bizarre, smiling female member of the family in the living room. Startled, Josh makes his way to the attic where he discovers a red door (the same one drawn in Dalton's pictures). Before he can enter, the violent man seen by Renai in their daughter's room appears and attacks him. Once defeating him, Josh enters the red door.Inside is "The Further" and the red-faced demon's lair. While entering a cavernous red room, Josh discovers a sobbing Dalton, chained to the floor. Josh frees his son, but the demon has discovered Josh's presence and attacks them. In search of their physical bodies, Josh and Dalton flee the demon's lair, with the demon in pursuit. Just before the two awaken, Josh leaves his son to confront the shadowy old woman who appears to be inside his house. As he shouts for her to get away from him, screaming that he isn't afraid of her, she retreats into the darkness. Moments later, Josh and Dalton both awaken, just as all the spirits vanish.With the family now happily reunited, Renai, Dalton, and Lorraine chat in the kitchen as Elise and Josh pack up from the long night. Josh hands Elise the pictures from his childhood, and as she takes them from his hands, she senses something and takes a picture of Josh. He promptly goes into a rage, screaming that she knows that he doesn't like to get photographed, and leaps on her before strangling her to death. Renai hears Josh yelling and goes into the room to find Elise dead and Josh gone. She searches for Josh and finds everyone is gone, the house dead silent. She looks and comes across Elise's camera, seeing a picture in it of the shadowy old woman. It's revealed that what Elise saw was Josh's old and dirty hand and nails, similar to the old woman's, implying that she has possessed him. Josh then puts his hand on Renai's shoulder, saying "Renai, I'm right here," and horror envelops her face as she looks behind her.In a post-credits scene, the shadowy, old woman can be seen blowing out a candle and the screen fades into total darkness.

Review: I went into this movie confident that it would be a cheesy, campy romp with the same "tried and true tricks of the trade," like when the hero is investigating the creepy music coming from the basement and a cat jumps into frame, but I quickly discovered that this would not be case with Insidious.
You would figure after great horror flicks like "The Decent" and "Paranormal Activity", studios would start realizing what actually works and what audiences want to see.
Hopefully in the coming years, this genre' will come back to life.When it comes to horror movies, i think the two most crucial elements are the cinematography, and the musical score.
Almost all the great horror movies never use it, because they rely on scaring the audience with disturbing images, not raised music that makes everyone jump.
Yes, they do use the same scare tactics, but since everything in the movie looked so damn creepy and demented, i for once didn't want the lead female to hurry up and open the basement door and get it over with.The storyline is pretty decent.
The film Insidious has done something many horror movies have failed to do recently, and that is to be scary.
I went to an early screening of the movie last night and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I felt like a little child watching The Exorcist for the first time.
The people sitting beside me kept laughing at me because whenever the suspense would build I would say to myself "uh uh....uh uh".But enough of my rambling, the plot was definitely original and James Wan and Leigh Schanell definitely succeeded in bringing the audience something scary, suspenseful, funny, emotional, and frightening all at the same time.
So Insidous borrows many of its ideas from other Horror films, one comes to mind is 1982 film " Poltergeist ", but here we have a family of 5, Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne play the parents of 2 boys and a little baby girl.
so the movie does deliver as far as scares are concerned.Acting was superb too, all cast involved did a very good job, particularly Rose Byrne whom I'm fond of after watching her in the excellent TV show " Damages ".
Instead the movie works from the Paranormal Activity angle; building suspense to the point where your almost screaming "oh just do it already" cause you can't take it anymore (but in a good way).
It's mostly interesting, but in many instances flat-out weird to the point that horror purists might not like it.The best way to describe "Insidious" is first half "Paranormal Activity" and second half something akin to Sam Raimi's "Drag Me To Hell," which equates to a nice balance between self-seriousness and horror fun.
Later on , the parents asking for help the medium and Lorraine's (Barbara Hershey) old friend Elise Rainier (Lim Shaye) , who brings her group of ghost hunters Specs (Leigh Whannell , also screenwriter) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) to resolve the ghastly mystery .This is a haunted child movie that contains restless horror as when the invisible and threatening beings attack .
Writer Leigh Whannell stated at the Toronto Film Festival that when he wrote the film he had a list of horror movie clichés posted above him, so he could avoid using them ; he said the first one was to make sure the family moved into a new house once the haunting started .
And its embarrassing to watch.To no surprise after finding out that this film was made by the people behind Paranormal Activity and Saw i knew right away one would have to check their brain at the door.For me, i can look by bad acting, poor effects, and amateur-hour directing but if the underlying script is terrible then i am going to bash it.
And this my friends is serious high school play writing/directing -- the kind of mess where parents go, sit in the audience and no matter how crappy it is you end up clapping and going home half asleep and thinking about other things.To be fair and give you an idea of what horror films i like:Jaws - Poltergeist - American Werewolf in London - Exorcist - Frailty - Tale of two Sisters (foreign film)It's a small list but they are considered classics by critics and viewers alike (check IMDb's ratings for each).
And the whole "Poltergeist" feeling (or tribute, not sure what the director was going for), also worked out well for the movie.As for the cast and their acting, well I think they had managed to put together a decent enough ensemble of people here.
This is exacerbated by the fact that the audience arrives at every major conclusion about 30 minutes before the characters do, and the predictability of the plot should even make the end quite unsurprising for the average viewer.The dismal and dreary visual style is actually not a bad choice for the subject and some of the photography was quite agreeable, but the editing and overall feel of it seemed a bit much like a television production.
The acting was below average and the two geeks were nice distraction though they were clearly under-used.Due to the total lack of atmosphere, Insidious relies heavily on the over-use of cheap thrills like creaking doors, creepy or sudden music or noises and suddenly appearing ghosts and demons.
Some scenes that were clearly meant to provide suspense were even involuntary funny and laughed at by the audience.The only thing that really scared me is that so many users proved to have obviously never seen a really good movie by rating this stinker at an insane 7.0 and nearly half a million people like it on facebook.
I loved that it wasn't gory, and it had some great 70's type horror movie scenes/music/sound effects.
It looks like there are either a lot of relatives or a lot of people being paid to write reviews because I don't know how anyone can say this movie was good.The concept wasn't bad but the execution was god awful.
I read all the good reviews and thought that the bad reviews were just people that don't really like horror movies.
I had high expectations of this film as I am an avid horror fan but I came away feeling let down.It started well, building the tension, and there were a couple of moments that made both myself and my 15 year old daughter jump, however around half way through the film, the so called 'scary' parts became comedic and I am not on about the two characters others are talking about in their reviews, which in my view were good value.I also took along my mother, who jumps like a cat on a hot tin roof at horror films and even she thought it was silly by the end.
If you want a fright equivalent to Insidious , just switch of the lights in your house and play loud music with the occasional hysterical scream in the background (that your 5 year could supply at no cost.) I guarantee the experience will be far more likely to scare you than this movie.Be warned.
I love the horror film genre, seen virtually all and own most on DVD & now Blu-Ray. Not since the 70's when the Exorcist was released, has there been any film which has made me really jump several times, not want to look at the screen on a few occasions and have an effect on me after the film had finished.
It quickly becomes a parody of itself.Brian Salisbury from "Film School Rejects" makes some good points in his review of Insidious, so I'd like to quote him here: "Seriously, horror filmmakers: put a moratorium on jump scares.
The only true positive is the fairly brisk pacing that keeps things from getting unbearably boring.Despite everyone I know complaining about my biased preference for Japanese and South Korean horror, it's pretty damn obvious that my fellow Americans are simply too incompetent to construct long-sustained sequences of terror, produce dense atmosphere, develop interesting psychological/philosophical elements, use ambiguity properly, patiently utilize deliberate pacing to build tension, or supplement horror with good story lines and characters.
The reviews giving 10* smell like money spent on an advertising campaign which wishes to look like grassroots...For a good eye it's a bad movie sucking the benefits from words like : "independent", "original", "scary" and so on!
While the formula is a redux of many a ghost story and heavily reminiscent of Poltergeist, the movie still feels fresh and original.The scares in both the cheap and unique variety and it is all in good fun.
I saw this movie because I'd seen a lot of reviews that said it was great and pretty scary.
It makes you scared, ill at ease and on edge all the time.I really enjoyed "Insidious", which is something rather unusual as I normally do not like scary movies.
Insidious is by FAR the best scary movie to come out in what feels like a very VERY long time.
Overall, Insidious is creepy and very scary and most importantly, a FUN movie to watch.
After watching this movie, horror directors and writers should takes notes and tips from James Wan and Leigh Whannel..
Beautifully shot, good acting, good direction, great story, scared the crap out of me and had an ending I have been praying for since I started watching horror films when I was a kid.
For the first half of the movie, I knew I was in for something great.Notice I said the "first half of the movie."When the movie begins, it reminded me of one of those old, 1970's horror films with a scary sight, large words of the title appearing on screen, and the classic shrills from the violin as if to say "BOO!" At this point, I felt the film was trying too hard but I was giving it a chance since it just started.Then we are introduced to the family moving in, enter Josh and Renai (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrnes) who have two boys and a baby girl.
Of course that doesn't count for much with those not particularly struck by the formula, but Insidious does seem to be one of the very few horror sub-genre movies to come out with better than average appraisals.Of course it's not perfect, few films, especially in horror world, can stand up and come through unscathed by critics and fans alike, yet for the like minded adults who can set the mood and channel themselves into the boo jump and creepy atmosphere world wrung out by Wan and Whannell, then Insidious is the bomb.Much has been made of the shift in the last third, where the film brings in Astral Projection as its reasoning for the pant soiling previously unleashed.
The use of photographs and mirrors bring the goose flesh to the skin, while Lin Shaye's arrival as the paranormal physic, and the subsequent use of a gas mask, keep things ticking on the freaky deaky scale.It borrows ideas and takes its tonal cues from other horror movies, definitely, and the second half doesn't live up to the promise of the first; hell I'll even concede that a certain entity is badly designed, but Insidious does have something new to offer the formula, it's also well performed by the cast, that itself is a rarity.
One of the best horror thriller horror horror breathtaking breathtaking thriller movie with perfect sound tracks matched with sudden ghost appearances..The creators of Saw and Paranormal Activity have joined forces on this silly horror – which is good for a handful of jumps and guilty giggles before it quickly reaches for the slipshod, hokey contrivances you don't expect until number 2 or 3 in the franchise..You have to pity poor Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, playing the parents of a young family; they must keep straight, serious actor faces while trapped in a haunted house movie, rejiggered into a possessed kid movie when their son falls into a coma – his soul trapped in a nether realm.
It's a 100-minute thrill ride that is a homage to countless horror movies, including Poltergeist and The Shining, and often enough, Insidious succeeds in bringing the scares.
Insidious may not be everyone's type of horror movie, but it's an intelligent, scary, and well-made film designed for people who actually care about watching movies.
Insidious isn't like any other modern horror movie, it take queues from the classics while mixing in a modern feel and is a very good combination of the two.
You jump throughout the whole movie, and you're not sitting there like "whats going to happen?" or "when are we gonna see it?" the whole stinking thing, and then everything scary is crammed in the ending.Don't listen to the bad reviews!
From the guys of Saw (The original masterpiece not the 6 other movies) it comes this movie with its title INSIDIOUS (which can be meaning also as Malicious).The Beginning is one of the best scene i have seen in a lot of time in one movie, the story is kinda simple A kid in comma is being haunted by some evil spirits and his parents are trying to prevent that to happen.
For being a movie of the guys of Saw is surprising that there is no blood and guts.In average Insidious is a scary movie that gives sometimes some good scares(for a PG-13 Movie)..
That visual minimalism emphasizes the importance of the suspense and the atmosphere to cause terror.So, it might not be a great film, but I liked Insidious pretty much, and I recommend it either if you are a fan of the horror genre or if you are a casual spectator who is bored of the hollow gore and digital ghosts we usually see nowadays in this genre..
Then there's the story about a haunted house, a requisite in many, many horror films, but that's only the tip of the iceberg, as Wan and Whannell intended to lull you in with complacency built up from one's horror film experience, before shoving the motherload of scares right down your throat.Even the building of the premise may make you roll your eyes at the expectation that this may be just another Paranormal Activity, since it tells of the Lambert family, with parents Josn and Renai (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne respectively) and their three children Dalton (Ty Simpkins playing Wilson's kid again, collaborating before in Little Children), Foster (Andrew Astor) and another toddler in arms who bawl at the slightest of disturbances in the house.
Wan has a knack for designing his scary pieces with aplomb to jump scare even the most jaded of horror film goers, and the best part is, you're primed to expect something to happen, and they do, without too many time wasting red herrings.
If you are like me, and really think Hollywood's Horror category cannot scare the pants off you- you need to see this.From the very beginning of the movie I was on the edge of my seat.
If you like a good scare, you won't be disappointed.IF YOU WANT A CREEPY MOVIE THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER FOR A LONG TIME TO COME, AND THAT WILL KEEP YOU GLANCING IN THE SHADOWS FOR WHAT MAY BE LURKING, THIS IS THE MOVIE TO SEE!!!!
The film is a good old fashioned creepy ghost thriller, sort of like a modern variation on 'POLTERGEIST' in many ways.'INSIDIOUS' tells the tale of the Lambert family, who recently moved into a new house.
Unlike what seems like most of the reviews are from, I'm not a movie critic or "self appointed" movie expert and I'm not going to use big words to sound all educated and knowledgeable(except this one)...I just wanna let everyone know it's a pretty good horror movie, and it's been a long time since I've seen one as scary.Anyways, I took my girlfriend to watch this and it did start out very slow and had me a bit worried that I picked a movie that might suck.
So when i finally got time today i decided to watch it with my movie pals.First of all the movie overall is scary and actually creates a frightening atmosphere over the course of the film, however when i walked out of the theater i felt somewhat disappointed probably because i was expecting more.
one of the best I've seen this year for horror films.good writing ,solid acting , good atmosphere and scary looking villain.
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.
If you want a jump out of your seat, "I won't be able to sleep tonight" film, (a more old fashioned screeching violins horror) that you wish they would keep making, go see it now.Filmmakers need to keep making horror movies like this..
I left a poor review on here a while back about the film 'Sinister' and I actually think that movie was better than Insidious.
Horror films are hard to get right, and I think James Waan & Leigh Whannel did a pretty good job..
THE INSIDIOUS is simply the Best HORROR movie by the great James Wan. Movie is exactly paired with Perfect Scary Music effects.
Director James Wan made a Perfect Horror Movie.Don't Watch it Alone!!
As a horror, scare-you-to-keep-the-lights-on, and guaranteed bad dream after watching movie buff; it's been a LONG time.
What I loved about this movie was that it actually tries to scare you, not gross you out.If you are highly suggestible or prone to nightmares, do not see this film, but if you are truly a fan of a good ghost/haunted house story, do not miss Insidious.