If Insidious deserves credit for anything, it’s for not being just another demented killer or ghost story and for steering Hollywood back away from the uber-cheap and tiresome found footage and torture corners of the horror genre. Oddly enough, this turn back to good old classic horror comes from the creators of the Saw franchise, Leigh Whannell and James Wan. Unfortunately, it still relies on lots of the same old horror tricks that don’t always work and has a “twist” at the end which really isn’t a twist at all if you’re paying attention. At least it can boast Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson as the driving force that manages to make it wholly entertaining, even if you are sitting there waiting for the basic horror beats you see coming from miles away.
Freshly moved into a new home, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) deal with the immediate loss of their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) who, though not dead, has fallen into an unusual type of coma, neither awake nor asleep. A tragedy involving a child places lots of stress on marriages, and it seems like it’s taking a serious toll on Renai as she begins to see and hear things around the house. After a bloody handprint and an unexplained series of weird events, Josh and Patrick decide to move to a new house where they can care for Dalton in peace and raise Foster (Andrew Astor), their other son, without worry. The change of location doesn’t work though, and the phantom presence only worsens, prompting them to call in the services of Elise (Lin Shaye), an expert in the field of the supernatural, who reveals that it’s not the houses that are haunted, but their comatose child now at risk of having his body possessed by a red-faced demon with a devilish agenda.
Rose Byrne’s portrayal of Renai’s breakdown and willingness to latch onto the supernatural explanation she receives is believable enough, but unfortunately that’s only the first two-thirds of the film, with the rest hinging on Patrick Wilson’s ability to be a man who truly believes that a repressed part of his childhood is coming back to haunt him. Up until we’re made aware of exactly what that aspect of Wilson’s past is (and that’s it’s his past at all), he gives his character the proper attitude and nuance. However, once the truth is revealed, his efforts up to that point feel false and it creates a problem for the character’s depth going forwards and Patrick just can’t pull it off. The last third of the film is the weakest portion as it manages to waste all of the tension built up until that point. The struggles never feel life-threatening and it really leaves a sour aftertaste after such a promising introduction to the characters.
To the story’s credit, it doesn’t blame the strange happenings on a trick of the mind or a satanic curse, instead opting for a unique route that doesn’t feel like it’s been done to death. However, Whannell and Wan couldn’t do much more than that when it came to crafting a compelling story as they resort to creepy voices and imagery that they hope will unsettle you. For some reason, they prioritized the eerie over the truly terrifying. Consequently, as an effective horror film, Insidious just doesn’t work; it’s just a few odd moments that look like they were taken from someone else’s tame nightmare and combined with the same old tricks: sudden and loud musical cues, the double-take with a ghastly visage appearing, and a monstrous fiend evocative of the devil. Even if its existential context is something unconventional, everything else in the film screams rehash from past horror films.
In fact, Insidious even neglects to capitalize on the innate fear of the dark by wasting a moment begging for exploitation later in the film as Patrick Wilson’s character wanders aimlessly with only the faint light of a lantern as his guide. It just puts it up on the screen and never does anything with it, treating it like an intermission in the scares instead of a prime opportunity.
DVD Bonus Features
Three featurettes round off the disc, including a lecture on creating an effective horror film, a behind the scenes look at Insidious, and a look at the costuming and the creation of the ghastly forms that appear.
"Insidious" is on sale July 12, 2011 and is rated PG13. Horror. Directed by James Wan. Written by Leigh Whannell. Starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye.
