Insidious

Undoubtedly James Wan’s best movie since 2004’s Saw, Insidious follows well-to-do couple Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) as they move into a old, creaky house with their two small children – with problems ensuing almost immediately as Renai starts to hear (and see) strange things. Screenwriter Leigh Whannell, who also has a small role as a paranormal researcher, does a nice job of turning the haunted-house genre on its head, as the scripter generally avoids the temptation to allow the protagonists to behave like mindless victims (eg the pair smartly decide to move once things get really creepy). It’s also worth noting that Wan effectively establishes an atmosphere of progressive dread, with the film’s jump scares used sparingly yet effectively (ie there are no it-was-just-a-cat moments here). The film’s tense vibe persists right up until its climactic seance sequence, with the scene undoubtedly destined to remind certain viewers of a similar moment in Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell – though it’s worth noting that Wan is hardly going for the same broad, almost cartoonish effect as Raimi (ie this seance is genuinely creepy and sinister). It’s a strong interlude that’s unfortunately followed by a silly and fairly anticlimactic stretch in which Josh attempts to save his son from the clutches of a malevolent demon, with the entertaining yet broadly envisioned nature of the sequence diminishing the movie’s overall impact. Still, Insidious is nevertheless a strong (if disappointingly gore-free) creeper that generally manages to get the job done.

*** out of ****