pelikula:
There is a Light That Never Goes Out by Don Jaucian
Insidious (2011) D: James Wan C: Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Barbara Hershey
James Wan’s Insidious isn’t exactly a groundbreaking horror film. Nothing is new with its plot: a family moves into a new house only to find that it’s haunted, or so they think. As more sinister events occur, we find out that their boy (mysteriously comatosed after falling in the attic) is the one who is haunted. More scare tactics ensue, some effective, some seem forced. But in its entirety, Insidious leaves you with a few lingering scares. It’s perfectly understandable that you almost thought of leaving the light on after you saw the film.
Drawing inspiration from old-school freak outs (Poltergeist, The Exorcist), Wan and writer Leigh Whanell, both responsible for the first Saw film (they did not oversee the rest of the series, which declined with quality after the first one), teamed up with Paranomal Activity director Oren Peli to craft one of the most competent horror films of the year (hot on the heels of Vanishing on 7th Street). Stitching Peli’s camcorder trickery and Wan’s knack for outlandish retro sinister scares (watch out for the creepy use of Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me”), Insidious comes out as a fairly updated version of the typical haunted house scare. Judging from the trailer and publicity stills alone, viewers will expect to see a few standard scares: the old hag in tattered clothes and unruly hair holding a candle in an unsuspecting corner of the house, the creepy man with the red face; both marketed to rob viewers of a few nights of sleep, and Insidious does not disappoint. Wan sets up an even larger ghost trap, jerky shots and all, evoking the nostalgia of his own Dead Silence and Peli’s obsession with capturing ghosts on camera. They throw in mythologies, explanations involving astral projections and alternate planes plus a ragtag trio of ghost busters (one played by Whanell himself) who add a sort of unwelcome humor to the film. It may be Wan’s idea of lightening up the pace, as if tricking the audience into thinking that things will eventually get better. A few minutes later, the scares add up, rattling audiences in their seats until the film’s rather jittery finale.
Insidious, with its technically proficient scares, builds up a strange atmosphere of dread and fear mainly with the help of Joseph Bishara’s wailing score and the creepy cinematography of John R. Leonetti and David M. Brewer. With a competent cast, led by a distraught/near hysterics mother played by Rose Byrne and the always reliable Barbara Hershey (who almost looks like a ghoul herself), Insidious has a few tricks up its sleeve that will keep you up at night. You know they did their job right. — An earlier version of this article was originally published in Megagogo. (gif via)
