Sat Aug 13, 2011 5:38 am
#49035
Just watched Insidious a couple days ago. Pretty darn good. I thought the pacing was really well done. As more mysterious things happen, there's a growing feeling of dread and tension. A horror movie doesn't need to be about constant scares and gore. Often the suspense is the best part.
That's one of the reasons I like the original Halloween from John Carpenter. For a lot of that movie, not much is happening. But the fear that something is about to happen is what keeps you on the edge of your seat. Just when you start to feel safe... you see something, and say, "Ah! Wait, was there just a guy standing in the background!?"
Back to Insidious... the suspense and mystery is what really did it for me, but that aspect is mainly confined to the first half the movie. Eventually things start to get fully explained, and shown in full detail. And while I admit that the explanation and visuals were very cool and original, sometimes knowing too much can make it feel less scary. The unknown is scary.
One point to note... the filmmakers specifically stated that the movie would have no false "jump scares." No building of tension, only to have a cat jump out, or a friendly hand touch someone on the shoulder to startle them. If they set up a scare scene, they all have some real pay off.
I'll give this movie a lot of credit for being an original story. In the sea of remakes and reboots and re-imaginings, we could use more scary movies like this.