Grizzly Review: Insidious

InSHITious: A Tale of Disappointment

**WARNING: This article contains spoilers**

On April 1, 2011, the horror flick Insidious was released into theaters everywhere. With the same creators as the famous Saw horror movie series, and the producers of the very scary Paranormal Activity, Insidious was sure to be an amazing movie…or so I thought.

The Plot: A family of five moves into a new home. The father, played by Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) is an overworked teacher who is rarely home. When his son Dalton begins traveling to a place called ‘The Further’ in his dreams, spirits try to take over his body. He falls into a coma that doctors cannot explain. The mother, Renai, played by Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later) begins seeing spirits throughout the house.

The plot in itself seems like a great idea for a movie. There are very scary parts in this flick, and I jumped out of my seat a few times. However, seconds later, I was over the fear. Every moment that was scary was purely because of the shock value. I have a number of complaints about this movie. As a woman, I am programmed to assume you all would like to read them.

First of all, the score was TERRIBLE. The movie began with the title appearing on the screen, accompanied by a loud 80s-style screech. I laughed so hard I choked on my Vernors.

Another issue I have is with the characters. One in particular sticks with me as the most ridiculous. A child doing what appeared to be the dancing baby dance in the family’s living room. The scariest thing this “demon” did was change the record the wife was playing. The main child, Dalton, was a TERRIBLE little actor. I won’t say anything else because I don’t want to bash this kid, but he really should not have gotten the role. It makes me miss the good old days of Miko Hughes.

Miko Hughes in Pet Sematary

My last example of what should be many many more, is Darth Maul. No, not Darth Maul… the red-faced demon just bears a striking resemblance to the Star Wars character. Only the demon has hooves for feet. Pa-lease.

Now, there were some very cool elements to this story. An example would be the fact that (and I called this from the beginning) the dad was in the same situation as his child when he was little, and possesses the power to enter “the further” and go retrieve his son.

The reason that I was able to make this call so early on (aside from the fact that I am undoubtedly a genius) is because I am a huge fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street series. In the third movie, Dream Warriors, Kristen pulls Nancy and all of the other mental patients into her dreams to help her fight off Freddy (who also had knives for fingers).

Also, the demon “kidnapped” Dalton. Just like in Poltergeist when the youngest daughter was kidnapped by the ghosts. There are other movie similarities, including ones from the television show Medium, but I will end them here because it is fun to notice them in the theater.

My final complaint is with the way the father and son escaped the demon while in ‘the further’. The demon possessed all of these powers, and all the father had to do was push him away. I am not kidding. The father gave the demon a shove, and they ran off. The demon re-showed into their real life, and disappeared never to be talked about again. Bad ending, or setup for a sequel? Either way, the movie does have a nice little twist at the very end.

This movie is a fun time at the theater. I laughed several times, and I genuinely enjoyed myself. But to call this a horror movie, and the fact that it was made by people with such horror credibility, I was disappointed.

102 minutes, and all they had to do was call these guys:

I would have to give this movie only 2 Bears. It was kind of a fun watch, but not too great overall…