Insidious : A Reveiw

Originally today's post was going to be about the puppy-dogs.

But then the hubby and I watched some youtube video reviews of the movie Insidious.
It wasn't so much that I disagreed with how they rated it, so much as what their ratings were based on. As such, I decided to write a review for the movie here.
However, I am gonna spoil a few things. Therefore, I give you a...

***SPOILER ALERT***

You have been warned.

Is this a good movie?
In short, yes it is. It is overall a good, solid movie.

Is it a scary movie?
The depends on your definition of scary.
It definitely gave me the willies. But a bunch of scary movies give me the willies.  It did not give me nearly the same caliber of the willies as The Ring did the first time I saw it. (And I consider that to be the scariest, most disturbing movie I have ever seen).
If you are looking for Gore Fest 9000, this is not your movie. I'm not sure this movie even has anything in it that can qualify as gore.
If you like creep-you-out paranormal movies or even suspenseful movies, this is your film. It is full of creep, tension, and suspense.


Is this the scariest movie of the year?
I dunno. I haven't seen all the scary movies out this year (it is only April).  In fact,  this was the first one that was released this year that I have seen. If it isn't the scariest, it should be in the running for one of the best ones this year.

Why?

Because the acting is good. Very good.
The plot is solid and even has a lovely twist ending. (I love a good twist ending)
The idea is not a new one, but it is executed in a new and interesting way. 
The parents are both good, sane, and present throughout the entire film. Not once is the mom depicted as a crazy person in need of medication or on medication or in counseling. The dad is incredibly supportive of the mom, and you definitely get the vibe that he really does have the entire family's well-being in mind. He does not try to kill anyone or go on angry yelling sprees. The kids are decent kids considering the situation.  
The script is good. What the characters say is well written. The flakiest bit of dialogue is when the psychic/ medium lady starts explaining the "other realm", which the film calls The Further. Its a bit cheesy, but necessary.
The musical score is wonderful and appropriate. You hear it when its there. When it isn't there you only notice the wonderful building tension, not the lack of background music.

Why isn't it the best movie ever?
For me, its little things.
The first half of the movie builds an amazing tense tone, which disintegrates when the paranormal investigators show up. The film then builds the tension back up again, but it never gets back to the the initial level.

The Further was an interesting concept, and its great that the film shows it to the audience instead of letting them fill in the blanks. But, it is a little too disjointed to work fully. The creepy dead people are cool and creepy. The big area of darkness between destinations is unsettling but really slows the film down a bit.

And where were the other two kids during the last third of the film?!?! The mom mentions they are at the mother-in-law's place, but then the mother-in-law comes over and the children are never mentioned or seen again. I know its not a big deal, but it bugged me enough to pull me a bit out of the film.

"But Deidre", you ask, "What were those other people saying that you don't agree with?"

I don't agree with the movies they were comparing it to.
Sure the same people who worked on this film also worked on Saw and Paranormal Activity, but this film bears little to no resemblance to either of them.
Saw is Gore Fest 9000 with a good helping of plot (I am also talking about only the first movie, not the franchise). Paranormal Activity is going to be considered a B-rated horror movie in future years, kinda creepy but not wonderfully done. Sure, Insidious and Paranormal Activity both have hauntings and demons, but that's really the only similarity between the films.
The other films Insidious was compared to were The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, and The Exorcist. Yes, it is a great cinematic film like these three, and it has paranormal/ supernatural elements. However, that is where the similarities seem to end.
I think that stylistically the film has more in common with an Alfred Hitchcock film than any of these. And if you had to compare it to any of these, maybe (and its stretching it a bit) the original Amityville Horror, maybe.

But! This is all my opinion. I liked it, the hubby liked it. It was money well spent to go see. I strongly recommend seeing it if you haven't already.
Sorry this review is so long. Oops...

What about you, dear reader? Did you or did you not like it?
Do you want more reviews? 
Let me know in the comments!!