[Movie] "Insidious" review

MINOR SPOILERS but nothing that would spoil the movie for you, when you watch it.

You don't see too many completely original horror movies being released. Because it's all been done before. Typically, "Insidious" is a melting pot of themes and techniques from other horror flicks. You've got your creepy kids, strange events that get more full-on as the movie progresses, and a nice (if predictable) twist at the end. You're looking at people running past in the background, kids laughing, baby monitors picking up some ill shit, bloody handprints, and so on.

Brilliantly, Insidious doesn't waste 30 minutes setting everything up. It gets started pretty quickly and snowballs from there. So it's definitely entertaining. There are some real jump-out-of-your-seat moments, and the general build-up of tension is very well done. In particular, the part with somebody walking back and forth outside her window, on the roof awning, made me shake like a little girl.

I lost all my fear towards the end -- I thought they went a bit over the top with some of those final scenes. But the ending was decent so it's still a winner in my book.

One problem I had was with the use of torches, or "flashlights" as they're inexplicably called in America. They never look right in movies, do they? They light up a tiny section of the room. Sure it's scary, but even a $5 Chinese LED torch will light up more than that.

Insidious - 4 out of 5
Not as scary as some IMDb reviews were suggesting, but definitely a good movie. I can't say I wasn't scared for most of it (or I should say, "I was scared for most of it").

-Gray

--- SPOILERS BELOW ---

Questions for anybody who has already seen this movie:

1) What happened to Mr. Stereotypical Goat-Footed Demon Man? After his Spider-Man act, we never saw him again.

2) Why do the ghosts in these movies always seem to be from the olden days? I'm sick of old women with veils, and men in old-fashioned clothing. Why is there never any modern-looking ghosts? Or to go the other way, why is there never any caveman ghosts?

3) Unfortunately, it's yet another movie where some basic combat training would have solved things very quickly. If you're going to go toe-to-toe with a supernatural being, at least learn some basic shit (Krav Maga). Every time we see that Undertaker-looking guy with the demented face, the characters are paralysed with fear. I just wanted them to punch him right in the nose. Lights out, game over, the good guys win. But it never goes down that way in the movies ...