Insidious Review

Insidious, 2011
Reviewed By: Dan. S
Directed By: James Wan
Written By: Leigh Wannell
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Lin Shaye, Rose Byrne, and Darth Maul.
Lanuage: English

Plot: A little boy goes into a coma and cliches appear.

Despite having some magnificent lighting that turns every shadow of an average suburban home into unpenterable black abysses, Director James Wan could care less about sustained atmosphere or suspense, he's all about barraging the viewer with cheap thrills and jumps scares, and to his credit he's not bad at it until the film completely falls apart in a ludacris second act that borrows liberally from "The Sixth Sense", "Poltergeist", "A Nightmare On Elm Street.," and even those fun Dark Castle movies from the late 90s. It doesn't help that when the ghosts finally reveal themselves...oh boy, they look hysterically bad, especially the big bad demon who is apparently Darth Maul from the Star Wars prequels, hanging out in a boiler room, sharpening his Freddy Kreuger gloves while listening to "Tip Toe Through the Tulips"; I shit you not. Not much acting to speak of, Lin Shaye does her weird old lady thing and does it well. Patrick Wilson continues to be the most bland unlikable leading man of our generation, and the emaciated Rose Byrne is more terrifying than any ghost.

Rating: **