MyRating: YYYY Director: James Wan
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson MPAA: Rated PG-13 for thematic material, violence, terror and frightening images, and brief strong language
What's so excited in watching a horror movie? One of the reasons I must say is to be scared. My parents used to tell me a metaphor about watching movies, that 'the filmmakers are crazy, but the moviegoers are stupid'. Why? Because the filmmakers can do whatever they want in showing you all the craziness and absurdity in the movies, and the moviegoers are still 'stupid' enough to believe and carried away with what they see. You cried, you laughed, and you got terrified. And if the so-called 'stupid' moviegoers do exist, then the horror movie fans maybe are the 'stupidest' of them all. Because the horror fanatics are always excited and feeling the rush to see every new horror movie come out at the theater, getting scared while watching them (some even have to peek behind their fingers), and at the end of the day, you come out of the theater and tell everyone, "This movie scared me to death, you have to watch it. It was very fun!" Now, what is the rationale of people who are getting excited to see a movie that will scare them to death, while still entertained by it, and then they tell everybody that it's fun? Probably that's the act of 'stupidity'. Don't be mad at me. You know what I'm telling you was just a metaphor, like my parents did. As you might have known, I am a horror fan myself, who always find the excitements in thrills and amused while being scared by these kind of movies. But of course, I will never want to be considered as a 'stupid' moviegoer.
Insidious is one of those good old school horror movies that will give you a real frightening time while watching it and may haunt you with nightmares afterwards. The theme was of those of the traditional horror movie themes, a combination of haunted house, demonic possession and exorcism. It was scary. It was terrifying. Refresing at the same time. And it was fun. Now I said it. I really appreciate what James Wan (the creator of Saw) did with this movie, a small budgeted horror movie (US$ 1.5 million in production budget) with the script written by Leigh Whannell (also the writer of Saw), but the result is a great and original horror movie, that will be remembered and considered as a classic for years to come.
This movie has the right elements and ingredients to become a genuinely scary ghost movie. Eerie atmosphere, haunting camera moves, and daunting score and sounds, added to the already creepy house and situations. The tensions were slowly built, to more and more getting in your nerves. You knew something will appear outside the window, or behind that door, or in the corner of the room. And when it suddenly appeared together with a loud noise, it will still make you jump at your seat and catch you with a gasp. The thing is, it was not only happened at night, but also in daylight, when suddenly 'someone not from the living' crossing by a character in an unexpected moment. When the character held a deep breath and still shocked with what was just happened, you also realized that you were doing exactly the same thing, with your brain still anxiously thinking. "What was that? What was just passing by? What was that?"
But this movie also has its humor side. When things are becoming too tense, it will loosen you up with some humorous moments, so that you can catch some breaths. If you ask me if this movie is really-really scary. I will answer yes, especially for a Hollywood horror standard, even though if we compare it with Asian horrors (which usually gave you real hard times while watching them due to the extremely deep-to-the-bones scares), this movie may not be as scary as those Asian's. Still, it was scary enough and definitely one class above many average and generic Hollywood horror movies. The actors did well in bringing out the believable horror moments, especially Rose Byrne and the psychic woman (Lin Shaye). For the ghosts themselves, some are real scary, and some are touched with a slightly comical approach. As the screenwriter, Leigh Whannell also appeared as the psychic's assistant.
What I like the most about this movie is the smart and inventive story, with some interesting twists. The theme about astral projection is also something fresh and told in a different way than what you may have heard or seen before, that made this movie to become respectably original. The final act of this movie, when things have to be resolved and where the story pushed a character to step into an unthinkable world, was the real scares and culmination of the movie, and I think it ended well. Thumbs up for James Wan who executed this movie in a beautiful crafted way that made it a standout movie. He is a very promising and talented new generation of horror filmmaker, which new movies I will always watch out for. This is not a horror movie where you will see blood spilling all over the place with hard-core gore, like Saw, but it rather will terrorize you phychologically inside. If you are a horror fan, then this is a definite MUST SEE. It will scare you in an enjoyable and entertaining way, and will satisfy your hunger for a good horror movie out there. And it was a real fun. Damn, I said it again! (MJ)
