INSIDIOUS

I've been banging on for years about watching movies with the right atmosphere. Every genre lends itself to a different ether and it can be the difference between a movie being shit or being awesome. Tonight all of the elements aligned for me when I watched Insidious. It truly freaked the hell out of me and these days thats a rarity. I watched it alone at night in total darkness with a tap dripping in the kitchen. This is an unconventional haunting movie that strangely uses all of the conventions at the same time. James Wan & Leigh Whannell (of Saw fame) have crafted yet another stand-out horror movie and have officially proven to be an effective and credible duo within the genre. Their previous collaboration was Dead Silence which I thought was highly underrated... and now with Insidious they again gravitate to a different sub-genre and avoid being designated to a brand. To the movie itself... think Poltergeist, The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street amalgamating into a strange and creepy reflection. A family move into a new home and their son unexplainably falls into a coma. While he's out the mother is tormented by apparitions and not long after, so is the father. From there on the conventional cliches fall away and the rest of the movie becomes it's own thing. Performances are great and most notably Lin Shaye is fantastic as the medium who recognise the true reason behind everything. Insidious is genuinely scary and might just creep the hell out of ya. Of course when the atmosphere is right!

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