Insidious

“Insidious” is an old-fashioned haunted house thriller. And probably the loudest. The “gotcha” moments are jolting, but the quieter moments are more frightening for their visual creepiness. James Wan’s film has the mood and atmosphere of Dario Argento’s best films. Like Argento’s “Suspiria”, this film has a glorious shivery look to it.

A couple played by Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne move their family into a new house and suddenly strange things begin to happen. So they move into another house, but the strange things follow them. Soon they realize that the houses aren’t haunted. It’s their son who’s haunted.

From here they enlist the services of a sort-of Ghostbusters-like crew and things really start jumping. Character actress Lin Shaye plays the family’s psychic advisor and she does a far better job of explaining their son’s condition than I ever could. It has something to do with out-of-body experiences and a dimension called The Further. But it’s all just window-dressing to disguise what is actually an all-too-familiar plot.

“Insidious” is a fun scary movie with good performances, especially from Barbara Hershey as Wilson’s mother who’s been keeping a secret about her son’s childhood. After her outstanding work in last year’s “Black Swan”, could Hershey be on the verge of a comeback? Hope so.

DVD Double Feature:
Louder isn’t necessarily better. Nothing can disguise the fact that “Insidious” is just a modernized rip-off of the original, and much better, “Poltergeist” from 1982. Little Heather O’Rourke famously announces “they’re here” before she is kidnapped by the ghosts that haunt her house. Her parents, played by Jobeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson, enlist the help of a haunted house exoricst played by Zelda Rubinstein to help the girl get back into this world. Co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg.