Insidious is a love it or hate it sort of movie. It is a PG-13 horror movie from the creators of Saw and does not really feature all that much in the way of gore. Instead of blood, Insidious goes in the other direction and attempts to make you jump every few minutes. You see, rather than delivering "torture porn," the team of James Wan (director) and Leigh Whannell (writer and supporting cast member) have taken a journey into the world of the haunted house movie and the end result is rather good. Frankly, this is a quite a strong film that is unlike the majority of modern horror and while it is a modern film, it pays homage to the films of the past with touches of old school appeal.
If you have concerns over the PG-13 rating, don't. I mean, while it is not exactly a welcome rating among the horror community, it is still possible to make a solid horror movie without the need for an R rating. This is not a case of filmmakers compromising to get their movie made, sure there could have been more extreme content, but it really isn't needed, what is here is pretty scary enough and buckets of gore would likely have just distracted from the more jumpy moments and psychological content. Insidious is the movie the filmmakers wanted and it just happened to be a PG-13. No compromise here, at least not that I can detect.
As for the movie, Insidious is indeed insidious. The movie is appears initially harmless but grows increasingly treacherous. It is haunted house horror movie constructed from the familiar and crafted into something fresh and new. James Wan's film relies on the repeated build of tension resulting in something of a jump scare release, not unlike a theme park attraction, be it a haunted house or roller coaster. It is frightening by implication as opposed to putting it all right out in the open.
The movie introduces us to the Lambert family as they move into a new house. Before they can even get settled in, strange things begin to happen, primarily experienced by Renais (Rose Byrne). Items are found in different places, strange noises are heard, all types of things we as horror fans know to stay away from, too bad Renais is in a different reality and doesn't know she is in a horror movie. Soon enough one of their boys, Dalton, has fallen into a bizarre coma-like state that doctors are a a loss to explain.
Now this is where the movie begins to gather up some steam. Renais starts experiencing more phenomena as the paranormal activity starts to become more pronounced. Her husband, Josh (Patrick Wilson), is having a hard time coming to grips with it and it takes a toll on their relationship. Why shouldn't it? As if having a child in an unexplainable coma-like state isn't enough, your wife seems to be slowly coming apart at the seems. This would surely tale a toll on anyone's relationship. A psychic and her assistants are brought in and things take an even more bizarre turn that is better experienced than read in a review.
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