Movie Review: Insidious

When I learned that this film was from the makers of Paranormal Activity, I was instantly very intrigued to see how they would deliver a new angle to this kind of premise. The result? Somewhat scary - if a bit ridiculous - horror film. Yes, it was unnerving for all the right and wrong reasons. Haha.

Don't get me wrong, there were seriously some terrifying moments throughout the film especially when spirits appeared on screen with unending ease - which stayed in my mind for a while - but when an old woman started wearing a ridiculously looking gas mask to talk to spirits, everything suddenly became silly.

I don't know. The film just lost it during the second half. I mean, I really thought the first forty minutes was chill-inducing as the movie impressively created an atmosphere that was both disturbing and eerie. Everything was present from the loud startling music to the creepy atmosphere and even to some jolting suprises here and there.

But then something happened and everything just went downhill. The storyline became weird and the horror tricks became absurd. That was also the time when I noticed that the costumes and special effects were actually not that sophisticated. Plus, when the camera did an extreme close up of the villain, it looked like some deformed jester dressed up for Halloween. Sure, the image was disturbing and quite unsettling, but it was more weird than scary.

I was actually quite impressed with the explanation of the situation and what can be done to deal with it. I thought it was quite ingeniously conceived and undeniably interesting. But then again, the execution was just a tad disappointing. It didn't live up with the promise of a somewhat fresh take on things. Sad. What rescued the film from being a total disaster though was the incredible acting of Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. I thought they carried the film really well and they're one of the reasons why this film was worth watching.

Insidious was nothing special, but I have to say that this was slightly better than your average standard haunted tale. It didn't remotely scare me as it partly lost me halfway through, but it was still pretty entertaining. Let's just say it was half horror and half comedy - something I didn't expect.

RATING: 5/10