Insidious...

Insidious is an apt title for a film such as this, in that it somehow managed to make me like it even though really it isn’t all that great. 

Which isn’t to say that it’s a bad film. But it isn’t really good either. It just weave it’s way back so seamlessly as it proceeds that it really did kind of beguile me into enjoying it.

In many ways it is an interesting and contemporary take on the good old haunted/possession genre. And it actually is pretty scary, especially towards the beginning. 

Even though the scares do come pretty much only from jump scenes reinforced by a really loud score, the effect--though heavy handed--never really seems wrong or misused. 

The imagery is unsettling and what turns out to be the film’s primary antagonist is actually quite an interesting and novel take on something that can and has been done wrong so many times. 

The other antagonists are pretty hit and miss and I felt took away from the weight of the aforementioned primary one. This is a story issue, of which there were a few. But again nothing to make me really dislike the movie,. 

The performances are passable and there are actually some fresh ideas here. 

“Your house is haunted, ehh? So why don’t you move then?”

“Oh, it’s the middle of the day. Nothing bad can happen now, can it?”

I will admit I am a bit of a sucker for the pseudo science surrounding the spiritual / demonic world. And the medium /  paranormal investigator here is played quite well by Lin Shaye. She definitely was the best part of the movie for me. 

The concept developed in the film’s second half relating to astral projection is interesting and even if its execution bordered on corny most of the time, the idea is really quite intriguing. 

Overall, the film is kind of corny and a little low brow, but still somehow likable. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I guess that is the nature of insidiousness though, isn’t it?

I give this film three out of 5 fire faced, astral projected stuck thumbs for being a novel take in the genre that didn’t fail completely. 

xoxo

D-bag