Insidious is a frustrating film for one reason, that being of wasted potential. I weren't sure what to expect from this, being a fan of tense ghost films but a pure despiser of the Saw franchise, which James Wan is also an originator of. Suffice to say that low expectations may have helped in not predicting the pure anxiety and fear I would feel throughout the first half of this film, before it changes tone dramatically and loses any grip on the viewer it may have had.
Things start out as your usual haunted house plot, with parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) moving in to a new home with their three young children. Quickly Renai realises all is not well with the house when things begin moving around, and strange noises being heard. After their eldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) sneaks up into the attic he sees something so terrifying that it puts him into a coma he doesn't awake from for months. This event is the catalyst for what can be seen as a supernatural home invasion.
What delights is in how the film wastes no time in racking up the tension, which it does so successfully. Whether at night or even in broad daylight, nails were chewed up every time one of our characters passes a door or walks around a corner. We know it's coming, we just don't know how or when. Whilst there are jump scares to be had, what truly impressed is the amount of scenes built on pure atmosphere and pay off in ways that are not expected. I took morbid pleasure in searching for things in every inch of the frame, the sense of menace is always there (something that was sadly missing from Paranormal Activity 2). I really can't stress how much the first half had me on edge building to moments of sheer panic, and for these scenes alone this film is worth seeing.
Sadly, once a motive is discovered for these supernatural shenanigans things begin to fall apart. Two paranormal investigators, straight out of what seems to be Supernatural's Ghost Facers, enter the fray to provide some comic relief. They are lead by paranormal psychic Elise (Lin Shay), and whilst it is great to see genre-favourite Shaye get involved in the proceedings the ill-judged turn to comedy for the second act gives the film a crutch from which it does not recover. Which is a shame, as the third act reveal and world design are creepy and gorgeous to look at, but the tension and good faith from the opening is gone and it does not return.
**1/2 (*****)
