Mike: Hey, Max. Have you noticed that people have been dropping off movies in our mail box?
Max: Wait, what are you talking about? We have a mailbox?
Mike: Right? Makes me wonder where all of those severed limbs I've been storing in there have gone?
Max: You mean someone has been taking our limbs and replacing them with mail? Weird. I wonder what they're using our discarded limbs for?
Mike: Don't know, but we have a bunch of new--ish movies that we could watch.
Max: Oh, neat. I guess it is about time we reviewed a new movie. We tend to always do the old stuff. Good thing this anonymous limb snatcher delivered new movies, otherwise we'd probably never review one.
Mike: Yeah, besides we could always put on our masks and go hunting for new limbs: there's never a shortage of sexually active, drunk, or stoned teens to plunder from.
Max: Truth! So what's the new movie we're watching?
Mike: Let's just pick this one off the top of the pile--Insidious. Ever hear of it?
Max: Nope can't say I have. But I'll give it a whirl. You know how I love new horror movies...
Mike: Roll it!
Max: Insidious (2010), is a supernatural horror film, directed by James Wan, director of Dead Silence and the original Saw. The story deals with a family, the Lamberts, who have just moved into a new home (their second in recent years, we're lead to believe), and almost immediately they are beset with troubles. For one thing, their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) enters a mysterious coma, which leave his parents Josh and Renai (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne) grief stricken and looking for answers. In their search, it soon becomes clear to them that the house they are living in has a bad presence in it. But all in all, this tale turns out to be something more than your typical haunted house flick.
Mike: What Insidious does well is fill the viewer with dread: the opening title sequence, as an example, is surprisingly creepy and gives clues as to what we can look forward to as the film progresses. I, for one, was taken-back by the score and visuals, and could feel a sliver of fear run down my spine like an ice cold drop of water. But then we get to meet the cast of characters, and that feeling of dread began to fade as I felt rushed and disjointed. What do you think, Max?
Max: Yes. As you and I have discussed, I found the intro to the cast of characters to be rather rushed and confusing. We're sort of thrown into this family "Amityville" style, like a fly on the wall in the house. I guess what I found somewhat perplexing is that I wasn't sure about the relationships in this family. Dalton for instance (who names their kid Dalton?), does not look like his brother. This led me to mistakenly think that he was Renai's son from a previous marriage. It's also clear from the beginning that Renai fancies herself a song-writer of some kind, but why we should give a shit about this is not entirely clear. Unlike the Lutz family in Amityville, there is no real attempt (in my opinion) to characterize the marriage between Renai and Josh and their relationships with their children. Since a haunting story often deals with a breakdown of relationships within a family, I think this movie starts with somewhat of a weak foundation, at least considering the events that are about to ensue. It's also possible that I imagined this family would have kids from previous marriages because I've watched Amityville Horror about 600 times.
Max: All families should be like those Lutzes.
Mike: Yeah, I would agree that the introduction to the kids seemed a bit off. I thought the oldest son was either a neighborhood kid or from a previous marriage, because he seemed to stick out from the other two. There is no strong foundation between the characters or a real attempt at establishing one before we're thrust into their terrifying situation. It was hard to connect with them as a family unit, because they seemed to already have marital/parental problems from the start. I don't think the Lutzes are exactly a great example, but Amityville did build their relationship up a bit better. I think one of my all-time favorite "haunted house" stories/movies is Hell House. That is a movie that builds the relationships of the characters as the film progresses, and fills the viewer with constant dread.
Mike: What I like about Insidious is that the director keeps the creeps coming, and barely gives the viewer enough time to calm down before introducing another nightmarish scene. I think that's important: the lulls before the terror, and this film does it better than what I was expecting (I hated Saw), but not great like Hell House or John Carpenter's The Thing--now, THAT'S a movie modern horror directors could use a few tips from. What Carpenter does well is allow the tension and fear to build up between and around the characters. You just can’t get that kind of atmosphere if you don’t have a strong foundation between your characters to begin with.
Max : Yeah, and it may be my inability to connect with the characters that kind of killed this "feeling of dread" for me. The dialogues between Josh and Renai are so corny, it's kind of hard to take their problems seriously. I was impressed by some of the allusions to the demon (a flash of its face here, a big eerie shadow on the wall there) but I guess I never felt full on scared when I was watching this movie. Where a supernatural movie is concerned, I think those feelings are supposed to occur. I was disappointed that they didn’t.
Mike: I found the flashes of the ghosts and demon to be pretty good, but the Old Woman (the Parasite as she is later referred) looked almost identical to the creepy old lady in Dead Silence. Don't get me wrong, the ghost and demon faces in this movie are scary looking, but they also appeared a bit too fake, like someone was just wearing a well crafted mask as opposed to being genuinely decrepit. Maybe this lack of connection and some of the fake-ness of the special effects ultimately left me feeling let down. I also thought that some of the explanations as to why things were happening were rushed and sometimes unclear. I mean 3/4ths through the movie and we FINALLY find out that Dalton has astral projected himself out of his body and that the ghosts and demon are trying to get INTO his body. It just seemed so sudden.
Max: The Old Woman (Parasite) was probably my favorite aspect of this film. It's really a face that nightmares are made of, a fantastic repeated image. (Haven't seen Dead Silence and maybe that's for the best as it wouldn't surprise me if the two were strikingly similar.) The demon on the other hand, I only liked to see in very brief flashes. Any time they seemed to really zero in on his face, he looked more like Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Max: I thought that was weak sauce.
Max: As for the astral projection, I agree that it was very sudden (and kind of random, like this movie in general), but I also thought it worked. It puts an interesting and unexpected occult twist on a film that up to this point mostly mirrored (poorly) the conventions of your typical haunting film. Once we know that Dalton and his father Josh can both astrally project, there is more of a game of cat and mouse between them and the demon. I think this was the point where I came alive and responded to the suspense or the "creeps" that you described.
Mike: When Josh leaves his body to look for his son, I thought, WAS the best part of the movie--except for that brief struggle with the ghost that had missing lips; the ghost’s scream as he was pushed into the netherworld darkness seemed a bit cheesy. I think, however, that as soon as the demon is seen clearly it's no longer terrifying: you're right, he looks like Darth Mual, and we all know what kind of a major let down of a character he turned out to be. When Josh is looking for his son in the complete darkness, and he only has this lantern that allows him to see inches in front of his face, I thought that was pretty cool. I loved how that was done and how the ghosts look when he shines the light on them. My favorite part is when you see all of these ghost hands reaching out of the darkness for Josh and Dalton: that was just an awesome scene.
Max: We certainly do agree on what the best part of the movie is. I particularly enjoyed the “Further,” the space in the netherworld where Josh had to travel to find Dalton. Aesthetically, this was exactly what I'd envision an astral realm in the demon world to be, with deep red lighting, eerie lanterns, gothic statues and the like. However, from a story point of view, this too, didn't make much sense. In the explanation given by Elise Rainier, the families' psychic consultant (played brilliantly by veteran horror actress Lin Shaye) Dalton is hiding in this realm. However when Josh finds him, he is clearly a prisoner bound in chains. This makes me wonder what the demon is waiting for. Go ahead and inhabit him already!
Mike: Well, Elise does explain that Dalton needs to be away from his body long enough for his astral form to be severed from his physical body, which is something that has been written about in books on the subject. It's all very interesting stuff, and I do appreciate this darker take on the occult idea. In terms of bringing something new to the horror table, I think this film is quite refreshing in that way. You just don't see movies take on this subject, or much of the other occult/dark-arts topics--it's all slashers and zombies these days. A fictional book on Astral Projection that I highly recommend is The Parasite by Ramsey Campbell. His prose brings the most inanimate objects to life.
Mike: I loved Lin Shaye in this movie. I wish we could see more of her, and I’d hope that people would recognize her for more than just the landlord in Kingpin.
Max: Although that landlord bit she did in Kingpin is just as scary as this movie if you ask me...
Mike: Ha!
Mike: Kinda hot if you ask me.
Max: Gross.
Mike: You have your old ladies that you like, and I have mine.
Mike: Haggis?
Max: I heart Haggis.
Max: The ending is another point I'd like to mention...I thought it was in a way very basic, but also very well done. I'm not going to give it away, but it's definitely the kind of horror movie ending that's sure to entertain. Everything is going to be alright, we think. Oh wait, no it's not…
Mike: I honestly had the feeling that something like that (won't tell you what "that" is) was going to happen. I won't say anymore but I had a strong inclination about it, and I was not COMPLETELY surprised. Still the movie delivered a nice little punch at the end.
Mike: Well, this concludes another night from the Balcony, and so it is time to give our Bloody Nubs of approval. I give this movie one Nub up and one Nub down: it was enjoyable and very creepy at parts, but the rushed explanations, lack of character development, and unevenly paced story does not bode well for the film or the viewer.
Max: In agreement with my fellow screamer, I also award Insidious one Nub up and one Nub down. In my opinion, this movie does not possess a whole lot of re-watchability. If you've seen it once, that's probably enough. However, where popcorn horror flicks are concerned, you could certainly do worse.
