Just when you thought 2011 was shaping up to be a bit of a poor year for horror (The Rite, The Roommate and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never spring to mind) along comes Insidious, the new film from Saw’s James Wan to provide a some long overdue cinema scares.
The film sees Renai (Rose Byrne) and Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) move into a nice, big new house with their three kids. After some small, but severely strange goings on, their son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), falls into a coma and triggers the start of some seriously creepy activity in the house.
Horror films seem to be the easiest to deem good or bad. Did it scare you? If so, it’s good, if not, then bad. Insidious scared me several times. The first hour of the film contains more than enough jumps, scares and subtly terrifying moments to heartily recommend it to both horror fans and anyone looking for a few sleepless nights.
There are nasty images that linger in the mind, figures that invade the screen from every, unexpected angle and an opening sequence that, although brief, was ingrained in my mind long after the credits stop rolling. (Largely because at the end of the credits, the opening, ghoulish image is seen again).
In these kinds of films, particular moments and sequences stand out. Whistling shadows in M (1931), a ball going down the stairs in The Changeling (1980), THAT bit in Inside (2007) the flashing face in The House of the Devil (2009), the woman who lives downstairs getting some air in Martyrs (2008), take your pick from The Exorcist (1973). Thankfully, Insidious has one of these stand out moments that involves dancing and ‘Tiptoe Through The Tulips’ by Tiny Tim; one of the most effective songs used in a horror film in a long time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qDOprU-Ps. Have a listen and try your very best to sleep with the lights off. Horrible.
Despite the scares, the characters seemed difficult to care about, but then again, horror is a bit of a selfish genre. Its not about them, it’s about you. You need to be scared. You need to look through your fingers. You need to shit your pants. If the characters strike a chord, it’s generally a bonus.
The film does stumble in its last twenty minutes, leaving the corridors of the haunted house and dipping into fantasy; a move that contained some scary moments, but generally stilted the tension that went before it which is a shame as had it kept up the atmospherics of its first hour, Insidious could have been a modern gem.
As it is, Insidious won’t win any prizes for originality, but despite losing its way in the second half, has more scares in it than anything seen in a while and with some truly memorable sequences, jumps galore and disturbing images that I’m finding hard to shake off, the first hour and a bit of Insidious is brilliantly, terrifying stuff. All together now: Tiptoe by the window, that is where I’ll be, come tiptoe through the tulips with meeeeeeeeee.
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