Written by: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkyns, Leigh Whannell
Rating: [3/5]
Horror films have multiple ways to garner favor from their audience, with the majority of fans of this genre preferring some good scares with the larger story secondary in concern for quality. You can certainly see why, considering the jolt from a well-executed jump scare can cause an adrenaline rush that allows the remaining deficiencies not to matter as much. Insidious sits in that place for me where it executes its scares so well that even if much of the narrative was fairly putrid, we can look past it.
Following their recent move to a new house, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) grow in concern as their son suffers a coma after a fall. When they bring the child home, they notice the presence of some supernatural spirits that makes them seek the help of a professional to step in and diagnose the situation.
Widely known for its famous jump scare of a particular demon appearing suddenly behind Patrick Wilson, Insidious has spawned various sequels given its massive financial success with this initial film. As box office receipts have proven, horror films will get people in the theaters and if it also includes some demons and possession then the wheelbarrows of cash will follow. For as many issues as I may have with the narrative, as will further receive exploration later, we have to talk about the scares.
Of the many scares this film features, we know the demon, but moments of suspense here are very impactful. With each scene where these parents encounter the possibility of their son succumbing to something so evil, it makes for various terrifying little scenes with my personal favorite coming from the scene featuring “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” and a particular small child running about the house. Just a bone-chilling sequence that sets the stage for the horrors that will follow it in the narrative. This film comes with several of these moments that make it worth the price of admissions and left me overall positive on it.
However, when we get down to the story it ebbs and flows from average to a third act that nearly ruined the entire experience for me. When possession movies introduce a demon involved they provide some backstory in an exposition dump for some context but Insidious tries to do this world-building that does nothing but confuse and dilute the effectiveness of the scares. With the introduction of Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) into the story, the film then gets bogged down in entering “The Further” and somehow making what should be mysteriously terrifying something that left me more confused as to how this whole situation works. Certainly not the intention of James Wan and Leigh Whannell but that’s the impression it ultimately made, only made worse by its horrific ending.
Plenty of credit, still, must be given for what got accomplished here considering its budget. Certainly within the famous Blumhouse model, what James Wan manages to squeeze out of this budget remains utterly impressive, especially given the cast brought together for this film which includes the likes of Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. They both proved to be game for what this film asked of them and even if they received lackluster material, they each did what they could and made their characters somewhat memorable. Wan has created this empire of horror films and for all the issues I may have with this particular one, its resounding success has launched various sequels. While I prefer the set of films centered on possession with Ed and Lorraine Warren, he manages to still create something terrifying, even if the script did him no favors.
Quite the mixed bag that at least did its job in entertaining, Insidious contains many memorable moments for a reason. James Wan, during this era, could simply do no wrong in the world of horror and even with the narrative issues within this feature, it very much still finds a way to creep you out throughout. With too much focus spent on this world-building this film does not realize its full potential and while it better serves films that came in the future, the lackluster story design makes it unlikely I will seek out those other films even if this one had elements I certainly enjoyed.
Films with Josh 
