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Insidious is another film from the current horror 'it' guy James Wan. Wan hit it big with the original Saw film, which I'm a big fan of. Instead of directing the countless sequels, he only served as Executive Producer and went on to direct more original content in the horror genre, like Dead Silence and the Kevin Bacon thriller Death Sentence. Both films didn't do as well as his first feature, but in my opinion, are excellently directed. He has gone on to have a sort of horror comeback with both Insidious and The Conjuring which helped him land a big Hollywood production, Fast and Furious 7.
Insidious was Wan's attempt to get back in to the horror genre with subtle scares that wouldn't have to rely on gore, or quick jumps. Wan scales back here and changes up his style. Were people expecting more Saw? Who knows, but what we got was a strangely unique and bizarre take on the supernatural world. Insidious is several different things at once and doesn't simply fit into one aspect of the horror genre.
Wan likes to play with conventions and here he plays with the haunted house tropes. The famous line from the trailer gives away a bit of the story here as one character says to another; "It's not your house that's haunted, it's your son". Cue dark music. The film feels like 3 films in one and in that final third act, takes us in yet another direction.
Is it confused as to what it wants to be? I don't think so, I feel that it likes to keep the viewer guessing. Both Wan and his longtime collaborator Whannell know the genre extremely well enough to be able to play with it and make it different. They created a world here with enough possible exploration that could warrant a sequel that doesn't feel like a cash grab. There happens to be two more films in this series. I can't say anything about the third film (a prequel) but I can say that the sequel is also a good movie.
October 23rd
Insidious
Directed By: James Wan
Insidious
Directed By: James Wan
Insidious is another film from the current horror 'it' guy James Wan. Wan hit it big with the original Saw film, which I'm a big fan of. Instead of directing the countless sequels, he only served as Executive Producer and went on to direct more original content in the horror genre, like Dead Silence and the Kevin Bacon thriller Death Sentence. Both films didn't do as well as his first feature, but in my opinion, are excellently directed. He has gone on to have a sort of horror comeback with both Insidious and The Conjuring which helped him land a big Hollywood production, Fast and Furious 7.
Insidious was Wan's attempt to get back in to the horror genre with subtle scares that wouldn't have to rely on gore, or quick jumps. Wan scales back here and changes up his style. Were people expecting more Saw? Who knows, but what we got was a strangely unique and bizarre take on the supernatural world. Insidious is several different things at once and doesn't simply fit into one aspect of the horror genre.
Wan likes to play with conventions and here he plays with the haunted house tropes. The famous line from the trailer gives away a bit of the story here as one character says to another; "It's not your house that's haunted, it's your son". Cue dark music. The film feels like 3 films in one and in that final third act, takes us in yet another direction.
Is it confused as to what it wants to be? I don't think so, I feel that it likes to keep the viewer guessing. Both Wan and his longtime collaborator Whannell know the genre extremely well enough to be able to play with it and make it different. They created a world here with enough possible exploration that could warrant a sequel that doesn't feel like a cash grab. There happens to be two more films in this series. I can't say anything about the third film (a prequel) but I can say that the sequel is also a good movie.