insidious

I’ve seen, read and listened to people bitch and complain about PG-13 horror films for the past few years. Honestly we have become fans that only want our horror films to be full of blood, guts and gore. The more the better, who cares if the story is good or not? Who cares if there are social issues involved? That’s the problem. We have become accustomed to the gory the better idealism of a horror film and not the story. Insidious is a film that has no blood, and OH MYGOD; no body count. Yet, it is the scariest horror film I have seen all year.

Insidious is about a family that moves into a new home. Once there everyone except the father begins to experience dark things in the house. When one of the boys mysteriously falls into a coma, the family is stunned. The doctors can’t figure out why he is in a coma as all the tests they have run came back negative. The family soon discovers that there is something evil involved in their son’s sudden coma. After the spirits begin to haunt the mother, the family agrees to move. However, the house is not haunted, their son is and they will need the help of professional paranormal researchers and a clairvoyant to help unlock the truth behind the haunting and help get their son back.

Insidious reminds me of a film that scared the hell out of me when I was a child; Poltergeist. The films are very similar in terms of storyline and plot, yet both are different in their originality. I think it’s a fair assessment to compare the two films. Insidious is a film that has that feel that makes the viewer uncomfortable. Right from the beginning we know that there is something very wrong with the house and the family. We are thrown right into the situation and become entwined with what’s going on. It is one of those horror films where the mystery is just as frightening as the experiences the characters are going though.

Insidious has decent acting, great visual and special make-up effects and awesome directing. It’s hard to believe that James Wan the director of Saw was able to create a film where there is no blood or guts involved and use the less is more method to make such a frightening film. There are echoes of classic horror films such as Phantom of the Opera and Frankenstein throughout this film. I felt like I was watching a classic horror film or a William Castle ghost film.

If you go into Insidious thinking blood, guts, and death you will be disappointed. This is a film that goes back to the way horror films were meant to be made. The story is the main focus, not the body count and gore. It is a classic chilling ghost story that gets under your skin. I highly recommend this gem of a film.

- Horror Bob