Insidious

"Insidious"
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey
Directed by: James Wan
102 minutes
2010/USA

James Wan's Insidious is an easily identifiable hybrid between the Paranormal Activity films and The Amityville Horror. There's nothing subtle about its approach, save for its highly effective first half. The overwhelming title cards drenched in blood are almost used as warning signs, informing us that this won't be anything new, special, or memorable.

For the most part, the lead actors are up and ready to take on this material. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne play Josh and Renai,  a married couple with three young kids. The poster for the film makes you think that one of the boys, Dalton, represents some sort of Omen-esque child that will serve as the main scare and attraction. He's perfectly normal when the film starts, as are the parents, who have just moved into a new house. The usual occurs as Renai finds things out of place and hears weird voices over the baby monitor.  Soon, Dalton goes into an unexplained coma after falling and hitting his head after "exploring" the attic. The doctors haven't seen anything like this before, a child with nothing wrong mentally, but one who is unable to wake up. Dalton is then shipped back home where something is wrong.

Leigh Whannell's unbalanced script is what forces the film into utter dismay. After the tight pacing of the first half, which contains some serious scares, the film goes overboard by interjecting special effects, an awful seance scene, and some goofy "ghostbuster" archetype characters. Whannell sacrifices chilling jolts for over the top nonsense. He's not going for honest characters and true psychological horror, few can pull that off, but he and director James Wan are striving for a more flamboyant style that throws the film off-base.

Not all of Insidious is bad, as I mentioned earlier, Wilson and Byrne are game here, and there are some truly horrific images, but it's not enough in the end. One can get through Insidious and its overbearing nature by realizing that this material is actually better than the previously mentioned Paranormal Activity films and ANY of the Saw films. The best horror derives from the notion that less is more, and Insidious is at its ultimate worst when explanations and answers are given out.

Grade: 2.5/5