Moving into a new house with their three children, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) look forward to a new life. Trouble begins immediately when their eldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) behaves strangely. Plagued by ghostly visions and sinister happenings, they call in Elise (Lin Shaye), a spiritual investigator. Discovering Dalton is under the spell of a demon, they attempt to cast the evil from their lives where the biggest prize is the return of Dalton’s troubled soul.
To answer people’s question ‘is it scary?’ - the response is a definite yes. For the most part Wan goes for the ‘less is more’ approach with what is unseen being the scariest feeling of all. Things certainly go bump in the night as well as ghastly apparitions with Wan having a great time generating the requisite thrills. Seemingly a horror genre disciple, he shows skill in moving the story along and maximizing the fine acting performances of his ensemble.
It’s very difficult to tell an oft-told tale in an original way – Insidious succeeds in doing. Whilst it goes off the rails a little towards the end, the creepy ambience created from its first scene permeates throughout. The reliance on the actors and sound effects over CGI is refreshing and it’s easy to see all involved have a love for the genre. It’s not a masterpiece but it sets out to scare and it does so well with bedeviling glee.
From being seen as a new horror bad boy with Saw to his restrained turn with Insidious, James Wan succeeds in releasing the shackles of his initial creation. Suspenseful and unsettling, his latest proves he has other abilities in his ghoulish bag of tricks.
Movie Review Rating 7 / 10
Movie Review by Patrick Moore
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