Insidious, 2011, Directed by James Wan
Grade: A -
A great horror flick from the creators of SAW? And it's PG-13?? What? This is not my beautiful house! This is not my beautiful wife!!
I saw this a couple of months ago, as I didn't get the chance to make it to the theater to experience it first-hand. (I thusly avoided the screaming and whooting of college frat-boys and their girlfriends whining, "Wherrre's Edwaarrrrd Cullennnnn?")
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| Darth Maul proves to be trouble on the set as he can't even get through one take without laughing. |
James Wan tips his hat to the great Italian horror maestro Dario Argento with the title "INSIDIOUS" plastered across the screen with colorful lighting effects and a blaring string orchestra. It reminded me so much of Argento's brilliant Suspiria, another film that will probably make it onto this countdown before the end of the month.
The movie takes a different approach to the whole haunted house cliche, and this time, audiences can't ask: "Why don't those stupid idiots just LEAVE??" The story is turned on its ear as the true terror unfolds, and if you ever were terrified by Tiny Tim's rendition of "Tiptoe Through The Tulips", this movie drives that point home effortlessly.
I can't give very much away, other than saying that I was intrigued by the film's gorgeous cinematography and a strong supporting role by Barbara Hershey (so much better here than in Black Swan).. so let me just say that this a great film. I was quite surprised considering the source of where it came from. Although, James Wan also directed another movie that liked called Dead Silence, which was about evil dolls and ventriloquist's dummies. When I was nine, I was given a Charlie McCarthy dummy for Christmas, and I wanted to start up a show and be the next Edgar Bergen or Jeff Dunham, but that didn't pan out...so maybe my fascination for evil puppets is a result of that. Who knows?
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