Let’s just say that one comes to expect some things from certain people. Fabulous entertainment from Beyonce. Constant spectacles from La Lohan. Increased insanity from Charlie Sheen…and maybe mucho gore and mayhem from the writer-director team of Leigh Whanell and James Wan (aka the Kids Behind Original “Saw” or KiBOS).
So KiBOS cannot for a second believe that we would pay our $13+ to go see “Insidious” and be satisfied with anything less than the scare of our lives. Punto. Pretty high expectations, I know. Mira, it’s not like they are trying to be low-key either. In fact, Director James Wan has spoken loud and clear: “Honestly, on ‘Insidious’ we set out to make the scariest film EVER. That was really our goal, to shoot for the moon,” as he is quoted in the production notes. Well, the moon is pretty far… so did he even get close?
My Grit-O-Meter is not sure about the the moon but this puppy definitely got to space. And unlike the bloody mess that we find in almost every frame of “Saw,” the gritos in “Insidious” comes from a haunted people story: Renai (Rose Byrne), her husband Josh (Patrick Wilson) and their three angelic children have barely moved into a wonderful old home when something awful happens: a freak accident (or was it now?) in the house’s attic puts their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) in an inexplicable coma. Before they can worry about insurance bills and the like, the family’s new home begins to feel as if inhabited by a sinister presence.
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Eerie events slowly escalate into supernatural attacks that lead this young couple to arrive to the logical conclusion: heck, let’s get the hell out of here! But, spirits can and do travel (and if you are a spirit, you better be able to do real well!) especially if they want something from you. Not wanting to leave her son in an endless coma, Renai is willing to try anything to heal her son, which explains why she does not even blink an eye when Josh’s mother (Barbara Hershey even spookier here than in “Black Swan”) brings in a team of paranormal investigators led by occult expert Elise Reiner (Lin Shaye, stealing ever scene she’s in).
After Elise’s team of mero mero ghostbusters (they really really are…) walks in, things get wacky before they can get scary again and in spite of all things paranormal going on, this is no “Paranormal Activity” but Astro Projection activity. Astro what?!?! Ok. Hang in there and let me try to explain…apparently, their young son is a very accomplished astro projector traveler (okey dokey…) who last time went a little too far in his travels (kids do have a tendency to get lost) and got stuck in a place called The Further (which to me sounds a bit like being exiled to Mordor, but let’s stay focused here…) The Further is populated by all kinds of souls, some of which are just plain malevolent with insidious agendas and then to make things worse, there is the big bad boy, the demon. If you mess with this dude, forget it. All bets are off. You may as well have Jeffrey Dahmer for a roommate. Having him after you is worst than being dead. Ok. You get the idea.
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Not wanting to appear a sissy (although he does worry about his grey hair and moisturizing lotion), Josh agrees to have Elise help him cross over to The Further, find Dalton and hurry back.
Here is where, just like Dalton, I got hopelessly lost and so distracted by what seemed like a cross between a circus and a spooky haunted house, that I was more confused than scared. Unless you go all the way, the “Saw” way, less is always more with this demonic/possession/haunted house stories.
So what could have been a lunar landing, ended being lost in space. Too many lost souls spoiled this caldo of a brew. But then, like a good horror flick that it tries to be, right at the very very end, we get spooked again by that final jump scare, which made me laugh as well. Hey, there is nothing wrong with laughing scared. It’s better than neither.
Directed by James Wan. Rating: PG-13 Duration: 103 minutes
