A quick look at Lin Shaye and the other psychic investigators in Insidious

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liked this, felt the "lair" sequence was a bit overt, but overall my new favourite ghost story....pissed all over PA2 IMO. Scary 1 Spewy 0 etc.

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INSIDIOUS: POSSESSED

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Caught it at the cinema when it was first released. Really wasn't into it. Found it predictable and kinda' dull, unfortunately.

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Insidious shares a common theme with THE ENTITY (and an actress...)

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Insidious (2010)
 

I have seen everything from Cannibal Ferox and Zombi 2 to Saw and Hostel. It has been ages since a movie scared me tho. Paranormal Activity did a good job but tonight I watched Insidious and thought it was so scary I had to check on my kids 3 times during the movie. the soundtrack was very jo loduca. acting top notch. Just a very scary and very good film. Highly recommend it.

I liked it too - a lot better than I thought it would be.

agreed, only slightly flawed, hey nowts perfect..and i always said Tiny Tim was creepy ;);)

It freaked me out when he was dancing in the shadows as she looked through the window. Also I spotted him standing against the wall when she walks through the house. And I never knew darth maul could be so scary.

Totally agree mate, one of the very few films that genuinely scared me and made me feel uncomfortable. That creepy song the boy dances too in the house which is then played on the demons record player is just sooooo creepy. :popcorn:

Yup I really got into the spirit of the film and found it very effective - especially given that haunted houses, weird happenings etc are so ten a penny and to that end that's why I think it's a good horror. I wasn't so sure about some of the sillier elements but I reminded myself to just go with the flow as films like Jeepers Creepers needed and thus I settled back down to the jolts!

What I also found refreshing was that this was a rare new horror not trading on shedloads of gore - just trying to scare you witless and I think that's a harder, classier job to pull off.

PG-13 horror is not for me.It stared out ok but then it just got to jump scare after jump scare(how people can be scared of a film is beyond me).The ghosts looked like Marilyn Manson,not scary just stoopid.3 out of 10 from me

I don't think it relied on jump scares as such. I thought the ghost was more darth maul, but used very effectively. Films can be very scary if watched under proper conditions i.e. lights out, suspended disbelief etc. Probs the best film I've seen all year. Tip toe through the tulips - song will haunt me for a long time.

Probably the creepiest and most unsettling piece of music I've ever heard. Just listening to it on YouTube again has raised my heart rate and made me feel really uncomfortable.


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I agree and had not heard it before seeing the film. Funny thing is, I watched the Adrien Brody flick WRECKED a couple of days later and it was used in that too!




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Tiny Tim revival methinks!!

Then you should check out "Blood Harvest" the 80s rural slasher with Tiny Tim in a lead role as Marvo the clown.

:eek::eek::eek: sold!!

Very many fantastic Horror flicks do not rely on gore and splatter and can still give you the creeps! :peep:

And yes, to nail my colours to the mast - I'm an adult person, and I confess that a really well-made Horror film scares me pretty well! :behindsofa:

Just my two cents.

Greetings!

I have problems understanding how people can be "scared" by a film too. "Disturbed", yes, "chilled", perhaps, but scared? Don't get it. Not since I was about 10 at any rate.

So, I wonder if this is connected to me finding Insidious a hollow and boring bit of fluff?

If something is scary then regardless of age it should be able to scare you. Unless you have a different meaning to 'scare' than I then I don't understand how you can not be scared by a film but I guess this is where all individuals are different.

I don't normally scare easily but Insidious scared me a few times, along with REC and Paranormal Activity

The ability for a film to make you jump by something appearing or a loud noise when you're feeling unsettled is called a 'scare' in my eyes

Perhaps I do understand another thing but "scare". To me a simple shock jump is just that - a shock. Not being scared. I hardly ever even jump at films going "boo!" either. I might be emotionally dead! :lol:

But that reaction to films like screaming or hiding behind cushions is something I do not understand in adults. The Daleks made me hide behind the sofa as a child, but I have not felt that feeling at TV or cinema since then.

Ah, I see a shock as a scare because it "scared" me but I see the angle you're coming from too.
Although to be honest all three of the previous films I mentioned scared me too in the sense that I felt very uncomfortable, hot and sweaty and felt genuinely scared. :blush:

Of course films have the power to scare. And of course there are those that don't have any fear to this sort of cinema, just as some veiwers don't laugh at comedy, regardless of how funny the film is.
As for 'jumps' there weren't many times in insidious where 'jumps' were used, the window scene with the dancing boy, the loft scene, the photgraphs of the lady in black all were scary but none of them were about jumps.
However all horrors try to scare at some level because thats the point, a horror movie that doesn't scare or unseattle is a comedy that doesn't make us laugh. Pointless.
And everything from Halloween to Ratman has jumps in it. It's not a bad thing, but it has been over used in recent films.
Insidious worked personally for me because it stayed with me long after the film was over. I didn't remember jumps. I remember being unseattled by the idea, by the voice on the babymonitor and by window scene.

And lets not forget the scene were the camera slowly moves to the window, and nothing happens.

The directors said they were infulenced by Argento's colour used and by films that didn't relay on jumps. I think they nailed it.

I agree absolutely! I'm a fan of old-fashioned horror films (haven't liked that much from the last 30 years!) and wish more directors would cotton on to the power of suggestion. I thought Insidious was great and also enjoyed Paranormal Activity (the first one but not the second, which seemed to rely entirely on "jumps"), The Sixth Sense, The Orphanage etc. Scaring an audience does not depend on blood and guts, and graphic horror has too often been used as an easy substitute for imagination.

Watched this on BD last night and thought it was excellent. I haven't 'jumped' so many times in ages! :eek:

It was very refreshing to see a movie that tried to scare you rather than gross you out. One of my favourite horrors of recent years.

Point taken but i must confess personally, this whole 'use your imagination' approach in general does little or nothing for me. If there's a sinister presence in evidence i want to see it. I can't stand it in a movie where, say someone is being pursued by some force of evil or another and you can't see it. Take The Mummy chasing Nina Axelrod in Time Walker for instance. We observe the former's POV as it keeps pace not far behind the above female and whenever Axelrod is shot from the front her bandaged pursuer is nowhere to be seen in the background. Sorry, but for the most part yours truly hates that sorta thing. Imagination may have worked in the case of Robert Wise's The Haunting but i believe that's why Dreamworks loaded the loathed remake with PC-provided trickery. Because the studio probably thought that allowing the audience to rely on their own minds would be a turn-off in an age where CGI FX can show you anything. That said, i actually enjoy '57's Night Of The Demon and The Evil Dead and truly do approve of the less-is-more element in these two horror classics. The first half of Jaws works for me, too.

Imo the thing is, these days there's nothing that can't be shown with PC power and savvy cinemagoers know this. Therefore, when a horror film arrives which requires a cerebral approach over a visceral one then some spectators may well complain "Aw, the filmmakers mustn't have had the budget for proper FX." and the end result could potentially be disappointment for the viewer. Whether it's for the best or the worse, in cinemas CGI rules these days and i think it's what many or most audience members expect. Sad but most definitely true and a most bitter pill to swallow. I'm not exactly enamoured with this situation either believe me, but it is a fact.

However, admittedly i do intend to give Insidious a chance to send the shivers up my spine sooner or later once the price comes down.:)

I find that part of your message a bit baffling. As someone who dislikes graphic gore, I wouldn't describe The Evil Dead as "less is more" - I hated it because it seemed to be nothing but excessive gore and violence. Admittedly there was a "comic book" quality to it because of the tiny budget, but that didn't make it any more watchable for me. To enjoy a horror/ghost film I need to empathise with the characters a little bit, and there was no character development there.

Graphic violence can certainly get an audience reaction and will engage some people, but I'm disappointed that lots of directors seem to think they're scaring someone when they're just staging violence. As an old example, I thought the original Nightmare on Elm Street was nowhere near as scary as it could have been because it showed too much, and the violence in some cases (e.g. Johnny Depp's demise) destroyed any atmosphere of dread.

Your confusion is understandable and perhaps i should've clarified my previous opinion more clearly.

The less-is-more element in TED refers to the film's 'Forest (wood, tree take your pick!) Demon'. We have plentiful POV shots of the relevant evildoer but we never actually catch sight of the creature during the movie's duration. The audience relys on Sam Raimi's legendary 'Shakey-Cam' footage and those unnerving demonic sound FX. Imo this approach appears to work in TED's favour. We see less of the forest's floating entity and i think such elusiveness makes the movie more suspenseful and heightens the horror. Just my two cents for what it's worth.

Jaws plays the same game as we don't get a good look at the marauding seabound predator during the film's first half. Once again, the viewer's imagination takes over and seems to fill the 'Shark isn't working' gaps quite nicely.:)

6/10, it was worth a watch at the cinema, but it just got silly. The actual scary films are by Hideo Nakata and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Insidious is nothing compared to them. Oh and David Lynch.

I've said it before and will say it again. I watched it in the dark. And was scared by insidious. I think its one of the best horror movies of the last 5 years and that I an opinion. I've seen everything from TED and Fulci films to films that go for scares from all those japanese efforts and classic american haunted house movies. I was never scared by ring or dark water. Im not saying Insidious is the exorcist but it does what it says on the tin.

The above efforts were about as scary as an episode of Rentaghost imo and the same goes for the likes of A Tale Of Two Sisters, The Grudge, R-Point and Phone. Don't get me wrong, these Asian frightfests are as professionally put together and well made as any Hollywood horror but they simply don't shiver my spine. The only title that came close was the original Thai version of The Eye and the Calligraphy class moment was brilliantly done. Remember, don't sit in her chair!

I suspect Insidious may possibly be a suitable improvement over many a J 'n' K horror outing when it comes to scares and i look forward to giving the film a try in due course.:)

Insidious is amazing!
one of the best horrors of the year :)

wow. its marmite time i see. as with most modern horror films, a cine literate viewer has to have the ability to suspend disbelief. as i have two friends who say quite baldly that "horror doesnt scare me, as i know its not real" well DUH.
this is redundant as an arguement.
i personally loved Dark Water, the US remake however is an exercise in monotony which i only watched as ive always fancied Jennifer Connelly...

never again.

people who loved Insidious will love it regardless, people who think its toss will say so.

I get that attitude quite a bit at work, from people who's primary interest is football. I have a casual interest in the sport but I can't get excited about it as much as I do a genre picture. They often can't understand how I can be passionate about something that's "just a film" and not part of the "real world". I repress a lot of what I think about movies.;)

As for scary movies in general; I'd like to be scared more watching horrors but it's not to do with a lack of suspension of disbelief. Insidious was fun, but I did find the demon looked like something out of Kabuki theatre. It took me out of the picture. The lead up was pretty good and I enjoyed the movie.

Exactly the same reason why I watched it. :D

To be honest I dont go into a horror expecting to be scared.
I love horror as its suspenseful and I have a keen interest in the supernatual.
No movie apart from Exorcist has scared me.

If I went in expecting to be scared I would not like 99% of movies I see.

Same here. i wouldn't be on this forum, because nothing would interest me. Back in the day (1982) The Exorcist scared me silly. Nothing else has quite captured that fear again. But, it doesn't mean to say that i can't enjoy a horror movie. There's plenty of other things to interest me in the genre. I can confess to, very occasionally, being caught out on a cheap jump scare;)

I've never bothered catching the above offering but if i did it'd also only be for the delectable beauty in question.;)

A man more or less after my own heart. Few horror films have disturbed or unsettled me and yours truly would say only The Evil Dead really scared me the first time around when i was roughly 10 or 11 years old.:fear: