Insidious

[Man in Black]

I watched Insidious today. I thought I was going to be in the theater alone and had just started really liking that idea (dark theater, scary movie, alone = sweetness) but then two giggly teenage girls came in and sat right behind me. Several other cliches followed: The creepy old man with a brown paper bag was next. Then we were joined by the husky, gothic, lesbian, "we must sit in the front row" duo. The last entry was the "I won't be working here much longer so I might as well take in a free movie today" 15 year old usher... who stood and watched the whole film.

As far as the movie went. I liked most of it. The alternate reality part caused it to lose some steam for me. Up until that point I was debating giving it a high 8 or 9... then came the ending which I didn't hate... but I didn't much care for either.

Only in the most rare cases *slight spoiler... maybe* does the classic abrupt end work for me. If it reeks even in the tiniest sense of "I'm not sure exactly what to put on the screen next so let's just stop there" then my enjoyment factor drops. It's not a standard I have or something... I really don't have such things for movies, it's simply an honest reaction I have during a viewing or shortly after in thinking about it.

Insidious didn't have the full blown, run off the end of the Earth kind of abrupt ending that you might find at word 500 of a 500 word high school student's essay. But little or nothing that I liked about the rest of the film was solved for me.

That's a lot of hot air from me about the negative I took from Insidious. There were many more positives... they just didn't come at the end which is an extremely important part for me. I loved the score and audio... really effective. The acting was way above average... from every single character. The concept was well thought out, easy to follow and best of all... fairly original. There was even one scene where I physically jumped which rarely happens to me so that was a big plus. Even with an ending that didn't quite agree with me... I'll still give it an 8.

[Jason]

Uggggghhh. When I watched the film with Chris (my 3rd viewing, his 1st), the theater had about 6-7 small groups of 2-3 people. One group of teenage girls sat 1 row behind us and one of them was constantly fiddling with her bag of candy. Rustling through it throughout the entire movie. When ever something scary happened, everyone would scream and then laugh for the next 5 minutes. This isn't Scream 4, this movie was meant for it's intensity. Some morons in the front row thought it would be sufficient to yell something smart assy at the screen. Luckily, Chris enjoyed the hell out of it, but this experience sucked, for me. If I hadn't already seen the film, it may not have had it's original effect on me with all the idiots in the theater. I just HATE that. I wish something could be done about it.

Spoilers for Insidious, below.

Insidious felt like such a breath of fresh air in the horror genre, for me. It's not going to be my favorite horror film, that's for sure. While I gave it a ten, the movie isn't flawless. Psycho, for me, was flawless. I'd have to watch Re-Animator again, but that movie may be flawless, as well. The only flaw in Insidious for me, was the demon I like to call "The New Nightmare Darth Maul Krueger Demon" I just didn't feel, with his lack of intimidation, he didn't belong. But it's only his look that I didn't like.

The ending, I loved. When Renai sees the picture Elize took before her death, in comes that brilliant score and we see what the picture was. I did not expect that at all and I left the theater trembling with excitement and chills lasting for almost half an hour. I knew I was going to see it again.

The film was not only terrifying, but intelligently made, in my opinion. I loved the classic text "INSIDIOUS" as the film score played at the beginning and end of the film. Just the icing on the cake.

[Man in Black]

Luckily the characters in the theater with me kept quiet during the film and didn't have any effect on my viewing.

I like the Darth Maul guy, but I'd liked to have seen more of him. The picture at the end I guess didn't have the same effect on me because I saw it coming as soon as he faced her off at the window before waking up. I've got to stop sitting in movies trying to figure them all out like a puzzle while I'm watching. Well, I probably won't stop it's too much fun. But every once in awhile it will act as a spoil like that for me.

Bottom line it was a tremendous modern horror entry.

[Jason]

I don't know if I mentioned my second viewing. I took my brother and his wife. There were about 2 other groups of people. All very quiet and respectful. Behind us, there were two girls, a few rows up. The entire time, everyone was quiet. But once the movie ended, one of the girls behind us started hyperventilating. She was crying and at the same time laughing while breathing very heavily. She kept doing it as she left the theater, too.

[Man in Black]

That's strange. Was it because of the movie?

[Jason]

I imagine so. The ending probably got to her and the whole effect of the movie came crashing down on her.
I felt it to be overwhelming, too. From an appreciative stand point. I could see why she hyperventilated.

[Man in Black]

That's like the girl sitting beside us at Paranormal Activity who jumped up screaming at one of the fright spots in the middle of the film. She ran out of the theater and never came back. That just added to the enjoyment for me.

[Jason]

I love that. That adds to the enjoyment for me, too.

I just don't like when people shout obscenities at a film that wasn't meant for it. I went to the midnight showing for Scream 4, and everyone was laughing loud and making jokes. That's what the movie was meant for and I didn't mind at all. There was even one guy a row up who would fart loud and I thought it was funny. It just depends on the film.

[Man in Black]

I totally agree.

[Jason]

I have seen Insidious 5 times, now. Hoping to go with my Dad and my friend, Larry.