I've always been a fan of James Wan and Leigh Whannell. I enjoy the Saw franchise a great deal and have a ton of respect for their first installment with the brash manner it ushered in a new age in horror. Their follow up, Dead Silence, is an enormously entertaining and effective chiller made all the more impressive for how divergent a path it took from the established success of Saw. Death Sentence found them stretching their wings even further with a (perhaps ill-advised) foray into the vigilante genre. Insidious feels like a return to form for the duo, a low budget, no-nonsense presentation of an original story scripted by and co-starring Whannell that finds the diminutive Wan behind the camera and seemingly at the height of his directorial powers.
Let me first say that Insidious is exactly the kind of movie the horror genre needs right now. It's not necessarily breaking a lot of new ground and it certainly isn't serving up hidden subtext concerning the dissolution of the American family or the lamentable state of our faltering economy. No, it strives for a goal no more lofty than providing us with a scary movie that is never boring and on those deceptively simple terms, it is wildly, inventively successful. What a novel concept, a horror film that is actually horrifying. We've been so anesthetized by flaccid remakes and winking, self aware wannabe exploitation garbage, we've forgotten what it feels like to sit in a theater gripped by genuine tension for an hour and a half. There was a palpable discomfort in the audience I saw this with that would periodically give way to waves of cathartic exclamations and nervous laughter. In short, Wan played the audience deftly with his well timed scares, but more than expert editing and staccato bursts of sound were involved in crafting such a profoundly chilling film.
We generally care about the afflicted family thanks to likable, solid performances that ground the characters actions and reactions in the vicinity of believability, thus never straining credulity or grating on the nerves. I liked these people and didn't want harm to befall them, so when they would venture down a darkened corridor, I was on the edge of my seat, whereas a similar scenario in a slasher film chock full of walking stereotypes would illicit yawns. It was strange to find myself watching a horror film where I felt something other than irritable tolerance at best and outright contempt at worst toward the people on the screen. Long time genre stalwart Lin Shaye in particular contributes some very special work in this film. She takes a stock character in these sort of films and imbues it with genuine warmth and humanity, providing invaluable assistance in encouraging the audience to follow along the very interesting journey the second half becomes. Some people are saying the wild card nature of the last third revelation sullies the more traditional build up, but I couldn't disagree more. I think it's a bold and interesting choice that mostly pays off, giving the film its own identity and giving the viewer something new to be afraid of when we put our head down on our pillow at night.
The fact that this film reportedly cost only 800,000 to produce is something that absolutely needs to be recognized and applauded, not to mention a practice that must be adopted by others if the horror genre is to continue flourishing in an independent, creative and profitable fashion. I could clearly see where corners were being cut, but a director with talent and ingenuity can always use that to their advantage. It's PG-13 rating didn't hurt it in the least considering it was infinitely scarier than most all recent films with gratuitous language, nudity and gore. I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't single out the pants shittingly brilliant work of Joseph Bishara with his terrifying original music.
Perhaps sometimes I look too deeply into movies for meaning and relevance. I won't get all hyperbolic on this one, folks. It's just a great horror film, nothing more and nothing less. Solid entertainment that does our genre proud and deserves to be patronized early and often so as to send a message that we would like some more along these lines, thank you very much.
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