I have an unhealthy relationship with horror films. Unhealthy because I love them so much and am rarely ever shown the same affection in return. Countless terrible horror movies are released every year and never pay off in terms of scares or quality. Yet I still continue to watch them. I am like the abused woman in this situation always coming back for more punishment.
Insidious, starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, is the story of a young family who recently moves into a creepy house. Their young son falls and goes into a coma for months and then the really bizarre stuff starts to happen. Most of the horrors are witness by the mom and she tries to get her husband to believe what’s happening. That sounds pretty typical, but the stuff she sees are actually very scary. Thankfully, the movie does have a story that goes beyond “Our house is haunted! Who’re we gonna call?!”
This film is directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the team behind the first 2 Saw movies. Though you wouldn’t know it, because Insidious is PG-13 and doesn’t rely on gore at all. This film was made for around $800,000 and that is a positive for me. You don’t need CG ghosts or green screens to make something scary. All you need are the things that go bump in the night. Let’s be honest, house noises are the scariest things out there.
Was I scared by this movie? Yes. The visuals and ghosts in this movie stayed with me and kept me awake for a while that night. I’m not saying it will scare everyone out there, but it definitely requires that you see it with a large audience that is susceptible to screaming. It always makes the horror experience more fulfilling. This is definitely a movie to bring a lady-friend to, just know that cuddling will be necessary afterwards…for your sake just as much as hers.
Insidious makes me happy that I’m a horror movie glutton and gets a B+
