Insidious, A Review

Insidious

This movie was brought to us by the same people who came up with Paranormal Activity 1 & 2, and those of you that know me, know I was scared pantless from those two, and this was no exception.  I had my eyes covered for a good chunk of the movie, I won't lie, but what I did see, was totally freaky!  The movie marries frenetic pacing with quiet lulls of nothing.  The cinematography pays homage to the classic scare movies, like Drag Me To Hell did, and overall, it was just a well put together movie.

The main premise of the movie is that a family movies into a new house and strange things happen almost the same day they move in.  As things continue to escalate, one of the kids falls ill, falling into a coma.  Weird things continue to happen, one of the kids commenting that he doesn't like it at night when his comatose brother walks around the house...then we get a scene featuring that and I was terrified.

At points, I felt like I might run out of the theatre...

The wife/mother convinces the father/dad that they need to move, and they do, but the issues persist, so much so that the mom actually sees someone in the house and is then confronted by the entity/person.  Things escalate and the mother seeks her mother-in-law who sides with her and brings in an expert.  In textbook horror movie lore, this spells doom for everyone involved.  Why people don't just run for the hills and start praying, I don't know, because that's what I started doing while I was in the theatre.  I know, but I am the superstitious type.  And when you live through certain things, its hard not to be affected by things like this, which really starts the discussion of why I go, but that's a discussion for another day.

The horror in the movie was more subtle than not, but there were quite a few scares that were 'in your face.'  Overall, I'd say this is as scary as the aforementioned movies, but if you have kids, of any age, I'd advise not to go - the movie is 'still with me' now and I can't imagine how much more affecting it would be if I did have a kid.

One of the main vehicles the movie uses is the helplessnes the parents feel as their child continues to be lifeless for the majority of the movie.  That is a great way to make people uneasy and to keep them off guard.  This is the first movie in awhile that I've felt really scared after seeing, high marks for that.