Saturday, August 31, 2013

Theatrical Review: Insidious (2010)




Get ready! Horror movies haven't been this fun in a very long time. Saw mavericks James Wan (director) and Leigh Whannell (writer/actor) have left the tepid torture porn behind - though they really didn't revel in it, if you think about it - to deliver Insidious, the most delightful celluloid dark ride of this or any other year. Rediscovering the basic joys in shocks and suspense, the duo don't so much re-invent the haunted house film as revive its rollercoaster thrills. By using a simple set-up and a plethora of pay-offs, the movie plays like a joke-a-minute parody where dread and terror takes the place of punchlines, the audience screaming instead of laughing in devious delight.

After teacher Josh (Patrick Wilson) and his composer wife Renai (Rose Byrne) up root their family and move into a new house, everything seems fine . Within the first couple of days, however, oldest child Dalton (Ty Simpkins) suffers a simple fall and suddenly lapses into a coma. Months pass and the doctors have no answers. While caring for her son, Renai is convinced that an evil presence is trying to take him from her. Hoping to confirm (or cancel out) such supernatural ideas, Josh's mother (Barbara Hershey) asks a psychic friend (Lin Shaye) to look in on the brood. Without warning, the medium makes a shocking discovery. Dalton is being attacked by spirits from "The Further", a parallel plane of tortured souls - and one particularly malevolent demon. If they can't find a way to save their son, he will be lost forever.

Steeped in a wealth of scary movie mythology and not afraid to do almost anything for a fright, Insidious is, without a doubt, one of the best old fashioned genre films in a long time. It's the perfect post-modern funhouse, complete with moments of levity and sequences of nerve-shattering suspense. Wan, who's treaded down this path before (with the grossly underappreciated Dead Silence) eschews many of the directorial quirks that made Saw seem scattered to keep the narrative focused on this one family and the growing level of supernatural shocks. From the opening moments where a skeletal veiled ghoul stares silently at the camera, we know we're in for a traditional terror romp - and we can't wait.

This is masterful macabre, the kind of solid spook show that will remind many of the first cinematic experience that turned them on to fear. Pacing the effects out flawlessly, Wan builds a level of tension that treats the viewer as a willing and wanting participant. As little touches (a chair moves, a light flickers) build to massive paranormal set-pieces, the filmmaker never lets things get out of control. Indeed, Whannell's script seems to consistently find the right beats, from initial interpersonal troubles between Josh and Renai to the last act revelation of an important psychic ability. Throughout, Insidious keeps channeling the entirety of the creepfest. The only thing missing is gore, and such unnecessary gratuity is not needed here.

A lack of blood does not mean a lack of balls, however. Wan revels in taboo elements (children in danger, religious iconography) to get his shivers across, and his cast is complicit in the results. Wilson and Byrne make perfect post-modern parents - concerned yet precariously detached. Even better are Hershey and Shaye who step in as various facets of a matriarchal "make it all better" conceit and almost ruin everything. But this is really a filmmaker's showcase, a career calling card destined to make Wan one of the most beloved masters of horror ever (if he isn't already). Insidious is a classic just waiting to be confirmed.

****1/2

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