Insidious (C-)

A largely uneven film, Insidious has a lot of great things but cannot manage to make a good movie.

When a seemingly ordinary family moves into a seemingly ordinary house, things start going very wrong. As one of the children (Ty Simpkins) slips into an unexplainable coma, the mother (Rose Byrne) and grandmother (Barbara Hershey, who is absurdly young for the role) begin to believe the cause is demonic. The father (Patrick Wilson) thinks they are total morons even when adult handprints start appearing on his child’s bed in blood. Luckily, the women have invited in an elderly psychic (Lin Shaye) to try and figure things out.

Director James Wan (Saw and Dead Silence) does an excellent job of scaring everyone with a budget of only one and half million. The suspense is perfect, the demons significantly creepy, and everything remains engrossing for most of the movie. Less impressive techniques include sudden use of the excellent score (composed by Joseph Bishara) and artificial coloration, but they are done so effectively it adds to the excitement if one chooses to ignore the blunt nature of their use. There are glimpses here and there of too far-fetched or obvious things (particularly evident in the lengthy final act), but the film manages to cover them up with comic relief while still remaining scary throughout.

I do not take great enjoyment in horror films compared to other genres like action, but I admit that on scares alone the film delivers well. I respect that. I do not even begrudge its lack of a moral or thoughtful conclusion. I feel the problem with Insidious is that it is dealing with issues and themes too important to dismiss for extra screams. People want to know more about the demons and spirits inhabiting the movie’s landscape. Recent horrors such as The Last Exorcism have sacrificed some frightening content to get into what makes their story’s psychics and exorcists able to expel malevolent entities. Insidious does not. True, I would not mind an action film with themes so slim they have no affect on anyone as much as this picture. I think the difference here is that horror films, especially supernatural ones, are dealing with feelings much more important to a person than perhaps any other genre, and the audience of these pictures are—perhaps subconsciously—are quite curious about these subjects. Writer Leigh Whannell (Saw and Dead Silence), who’s job was less to scare as to story tell, is far less invested than he should be. The menial and even meaningless attitude to the tale is far more disturbing to the viewer considering the subject matter discussed than if it was used in another genre.

As strange as it seems, supernatural horrors are affecting viewers in a far more profound way than most other genres. Therefore, filmmakers in this genre must put more effort into thematic content.

Thematic content is mostly absent from Insidious. The movie may have moments where the scares seem to make up for it, but in the end this bell doesn’t ring.