Visitors Review

VWstarwars (2012-05-25 22:45)

Did not realize how much fun I was going to have getting creeped out!

I went in to the theater, not knowing exactly what to expect beyond asupernatural type scary movie. Wow, this movie was so much fun andexciting! Seeing this on the "big screen" with a packed audience wasmagnificent. People jumped, screamed, laughed at the right times. Thiswas like a breath of fresh air from all the sequels and remakes thatare almost always lackluster, uninspired rehashes of the originals. Thestory was solid along with the performances, cinematography anddirecting. A good horror film can be an absolutely thrillingexperience. There were genuinely creepy moments that both shocked andsurprised the audience. I loved the goofy paranormal team that comes inadding just enough comic relief, yet remaining likable and not ruiningthe entire affair.This was a really cool and fun experience!

peteranderson975 (2012-05-25 10:59)

Poltergeist remade as a horror film?

A family moving into a new house are disturbed by strange thingshappening. When their son falls into a coma they need to look for helpfrom paranormal investigation team.That short synopsis makes this film sound like Poltergeist and it'shard to avoid the comparison. But Poltergeist was big flashy specialeffects extravaganza and this film is much more subtle. The scares comethe from mysterious noises and the sudden appearance of things such asa face at a window and bloody hand-prints on sheets. My biggest jumpscare came from the appearance of a red-faced demon just behind PatrickWilson's headI thought the film was very good at building up the tension through thefirst two-thirds of the film. Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson really werevery convincing as the desperate parents trying to get help for theirson. Lin Shaye was lot less bizarre as the medium brought into to helpthan the unearthly Zelda Rubenstein in Poltergeist, at least she wasuntil she put a strange gas mask to talk to spirits. Perhaps the rushof events just left no room for the quiet tension that was so effectiveearlier and the last third of the film was a bit of let-down. Despitethat is still a very good film and I think it is better thanPoltergeist, especially as horror film.Rating 7/10

Armond White (2012-05-25 13:33)

Its plot, ripped off from The Amityville Horror, shows so little psychological or occult logic that it exposes its own sheer dumbness as just a series of spookings.

Jackie K. Cooper (2012-05-25 06:58)

Scary enough to be fun but not scary enough to gross you out - and there is a difference!

josh630 (2012-05-24 11:51)

So Much Wasted Potential

I'll get to the point, and say that the first half of this movie isreally well done. From the opening credits to the creepy string musicreminding you of when horror films were actually good. The acting isstrong and there are even scenes were the characters are stronglydeveloped. Everything sets up nice, and it has that creepy house/ghoststory feel to it, mixed in with a little bit of intrigue. The jumps andscenes are queued on time with the music, and the subtle "scares" arereally this movies shining moment. Actual suspense and fright, minusthe gore that so many "scary movies" have been pushing out lately.All this sounds like a great movie right? Well, don't get your hopes uplike I did. Somewhere along the half way point this movie goes downhilldrastically. It wasn't just a personal opinion either because I heardsimilar murmurs from fellow viewers. Needless to say, by the end of themovie the plot/quality decline and what could have been a great scarymovie for the decade, amounted to nothing more than a failed attemptthat left me wondering why the directors would make some of the choicesthat they did.

Tam (2012-05-23 19:32)

OMG!!

This is the worst movie since Legion and Skyline. Ridiculous story, horrible acting, IRRITATING music. Avoid this movie! It is a waste of money, time and brain cells!!

alex (2012-05-22 17:23)

Star Wars meets Kingpin!

Some decent bits at the start but soon becomes Poltergeist and thenStar Wars when that bloke with the red face who was a Sith turns upwith for some unknown reason Tiny Tim. The ending descended into farcewhen after getting in the Excorsist for one scene they sent for theGhostbusters who called in the landlady from Kingpin and all Hell brokeloose for the last 20 minutes as the cast re-enacted scenes fromPoltergeist but could not afford a rope and instead just made do. Thenthe guys who were in Michael Jackson's Thriller made an appearance andwe got a shock ending that was obvious and silly. The most frighteningpart of Insidious is that we will likely see a part 2. I am not surewhether it was meant to be a horror film or a comedy and can't reallybe bothered to care.

atanaskisiov (2012-05-22 12:56)

Best non violent scary movie

I would like to start with the things that may set you off in this filmlike the bad ass demon that is a mix from that red faced dude in thelame ass Phantom Menace, Nightcrawler from X-men a weird goat andKruger's claws BUT it definitely works.Next the music. The music has a huge role in this movie. For instancein the beginning there was a shot of a window and a tree outside and igot really freaked out by the music! Next stop the people in TheFurter... those were some really freaky characters with psychoticsmiles.The CGI's are amazing everything looks real and very scary! The plot isnothing new and yet is original(don't know how that happened) I haven'twatched that good of a scary movie in a long time the only thing thatcame close was the re-remake of "Fright Night".Overall will i watch this movie again - Yes Will i be freaked out bythe end of it - Yes

(2012-05-22 12:41)

Insidious (I couldn't wait to use this.)

(1.) Same old ripoff of previous movies where some child disappears into some evil alternative dimension controlled by very fakey demons or whatever. The last version I saw was a girl being sucked into a TV or into a hole in the basement or whatever. (2.) Same old actors not acting a role but trying to pretend to be non-actors as if they're real people being filmed surreptitiously but were so bad at that, that their true acting skills were exposed. (3.) Same old slow moving black and white hand held been-done-countless-times-before camera. (4.) Same old old house scenes with same old closing doors and moving objects. Spirits just have no imagination and haven't for the past 100 years of film making. (5.) Same old spirit searchers with attempts this time to be funny that were more juvenile that credible.(6.) Same old analog EMF devices that for the past 20 years have actually been digital and measure nothing but electromagnetic fields that all electrical wiring and appliances put off. I have one and it's about as meaningful to spirt/demons as a toothbrush. (7.) Same old twisty possessed person at the end. (8.) Same old rental Halloween costume and CGI effects. (9.) The only thing insidious in this movie was "the movie" and director's capacity to use an a dictionary to find a word that hasn't been used before. Such intelligence is humbling.

Lloyd Bayer (2012-05-21 19:11)

Got me under my sheets!!

Either way you look at it, this is a 'love it' or 'hate it' movie. As ahorror movie, you will love it for giving you the chills you expect,or, you will hate it for giving you nightmares.Having loitered in the horror genre long enough, I am always skepticalwhen gauging a film's alleged fright factor. This has more to do withpersonal expectations rather than what the film promises throughpre-release trailers. When this film starts, the credits have namesdisintegrating into ghostly smoke. To me, this animated effect ishugely similar to the light hearted "Scooby-Do" episodes, or even BillCosby's "Ghost Dad". Within just a few minutes, I realized Iunderestimated the film's potential to induce hair raising chills.Perhaps this is director James Wan's way of saying "Think you canhandle a scary move? Wait till you see this!" Then Wan threw me offcourse again. Having scripted, directed and initiated the "Saw"franchise, I was prepared for some blood and gore along the lines of aslasher/thriller, and no way was I expecting a true horror story.Amazingly, Wan goes on to offer a horror movie with minimal use ofblood and even confines the content to a juvenile rating of PG-13. Butdon't let this rating misguide you.Having recently shifted to a new house, the Lamberts barely start tounpack before facing increasingly disturbing occurrences. Things take aturn for the worse when their eldest son slips into a coma after aminor fall. Doctors are baffled by Dalton's rare condition and afterthree months without respite, Renai and Josh bring their son home.Thinking the house to be haunted, the lamberts move again, only torealize that the problem is not the house, but that malevolent forcesare using Dalton's body as a gateway into our world.Along with screen writer Leigh Whannell, Wan's success lies in thescreenplay and its execution. For me, his use of the triple S formulais what really works here. At the fore is a well written script withclever homage to old school classics like "Psycho". Wan has also usedthe element of suspense, skillfully amplified by moments of deliberatesilence. You just know something is going to happen, but not knowingwhat or when makes it all the more intense. His final S is the choiceof soundtrack or score. Ominous and jolting, are the two words thatcome to mind. Cinematography is another area he gets right. Combinedwith the soundtrack, angles of filming and just the right amount oflighting, cinematography here creates the right atmosphere for thestory.Aside from the technical bearing, human elements play the part toperfection. This is where most horror movies go off track, relying oneffects and sound editing to do the job. As Dalton's parents, RoseByrne and Patrick Wilson dish out some plausible portrayals. Withlesser screen time but with as much prominence are Barbara Hershey andLin Shaye in custom made roles. Although each plays vital roles in thefilm, Shaye has the edge as an occult specialist.A common problem with Hollywood horror movies is that every now andagain, a hotshot film maker thinks he/she has what it takes to outdothe previous hotshot film maker who thinks he/she did a 'hell' of a jobin scaring the audience. Think about it, how many times has a hauntedhouse, demonic possession or a Halloween themed movie been remade? Nodoubt, with each re-make, the makers assume superiority over theprevious releases. For Insidious, the outcome is not entirely original.Some scenes of the house are also reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's"Psycho". Even with the well written script, the ending appears to havea lot more going on than the first half. Possibly Wan and Whannellattempted to through everything they had at the audience, including adark caricature of the "Ghostbusters". I am not entirely convinced ifthis was a right move, but I can say with certainty that if this movieis meant to scare people, people will be scared. Even if this story wasnot made into a movie, it would still make a compelling tale by acampfire.

Cece (2012-05-21 09:30)

An unexpected surprise...FUN!

This was an unexpected surprise! It had many unique plot twists (the existance of "the further") while incorporating both Asian horror films, American classic horror films and tongue-in-check campy "this is so bad...it's good" aspects.Hard to describe, unless you've seen it, but the audience was screaming, laughing and groaning. Being someone who was raised on old, black and white Samurai movies and foreign films, like "Diabolique" and who loves good supernatural thrillers, old B horror movies (like "The Mummy's Curse" and totally terrible first-time-film-maker scary movies like the "The Fanglys", this was a fun ride from beginning to end.See it, but don't bring your youngsters.

lcri-1 (2012-05-21 09:10)

A Huge Disappointment

Insidious confuses me. Not because of the plot, which is endlesslyspelled out by exposition-spewing secondary characters and is allshamelessly lifted from better movies anyway. I'm confused as to how somany people like it. A 7.4 on the IMDb, a "Fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes, and people proclaiming it's the scariest thing they've everseen... has everyone been taking drugs? Have they forgotten all otherhorror movies exist? I know I'm not alone in this. Everyone in thetheater with me disliked the film. Four girls walked out partwaythrough, people were laughing at the "scary" bits and cracking jokes,and when the credits started rolling, I loudly proclaimed, "Well, thatsucked." The crowd laughed in agreement. So what happened? Was mytheater somehow screening a different cut of the movie? Is everyoneelse living in an alternate dimension where this is a good movie? Ihave no idea.Now onto the plot. A family has just moved into a big, creepy oldhouse. One of the kids falls into a supernatural coma, because hisspirit is trapped in the realm of the dead, and the mother startsseeing visions of ghosts. The dad is skeptical at first, but eventuallycannot deny the truth. They move, but it's the person who's haunted -actually stalked by a demon trying to possess him - and not the house.They call in an old lady and her goofy team of supernatural techexperts to bring the kid's soul back into the real world. What's that,you say? It sounds exactly like a sloppy cross between Poltergeist andParanormal Activity? Well, yes, that's because it is.Nothing happens in this movie that isn't incredibly predictable. Thatmight be okay if it were done better than most other movies, but itisn't - the apparitions are often more goofy than scary, there's toomuch comedic relief, dialogue is simplistic and far too expository, andthe acting never rises above mediocre (and is usually somewhat short ofthat mark).Near the beginning of the film, it's shown that family life is tense.The parents have three kids, and the father, a schoolteacher, has beenstaying at work late every night with flimsy excuses. That plot pointis mentioned once or twice, then completely abandoned. The two kids whostill have souls in their bodies, a baby girl and young boy, almostcompletely disappear from the movie at the halfway point and neveramount to anything. We learn that our female lead is a songwriter nearthe beginning, which is really the only characterization we get, andalso goes nowhere other than the standard "mysteriously moved object"scene with some of her sheet music. In fact, the entire film is almostcompletely devoid of character development.There are some plot points that carry over, but this is actuallyanother problem. The movie thinks it's much more clever than itactually is, and also assumes the audience is full of idiots. It usesthe tried-and-true device of kids drawing out their nightmares, andalmost every single time we see what inspired the drawing, the moviecuts back to that picture in case we forgot about it already.There's also a subplot involving a previous possession attempt onanother character by a different spirit, which is clumsily introducedwith more over-expository dialogue and of course leads into thetelegraphed "twist" ending. This subplot also makes heavy use of the"spirit photography" element, and feels a lot like Shutter or parts ofThe Omen.There's even a trek into the otherworld in which a character issidetracked from his goal when he discovers the origin of two smiling,murdered female ghosts who have no real relevance to the plot otherthan to serve as a sloppy and unnecessary allusion to The Shining. It'simplied they may have been killed in the house that the family movedinto at the beginning of the film, but this is not at all important toany occurrence in the movie's story.These girl ghosts are joined by two other standard ghost types who arehighlighted amongst all the inhabitants of the netherworld for noapparent reason: the creepy guy with a disgustingly malformed tongueand mouth who is required to attempt kissing a character at some point,and the playful, annoying, goofy and unscary little kid spirit who'sobligated to play "hide and seek" with a victim.Occasionally, something scary will happen - a few scenes buildreasonable suspense and there are several cheap jumps, but these don'toverride the failings of the film as a whole.Maybe people liked it simply because it reminded them of some of theirfavorite older horror movies. I'm of the mind that references don'twork unless the movie they're in is good on its own, and I didn't findthis to be a good movie. It wasn't even bad enough to be fun - just 103minutes of generic, disappointing, and uninspired horror tropes. Isuppose I'm happy for all the people who like it; I certainly wish I'denjoyed it as much as they did. But I can't say I see the value in thismovie. I didn't think it was OFFENSIVELY bad, so perhaps you shouldtake a chance on it since so many others think it's great. Just don'tbe surprised if you walk away feeling like you wasted your time.

lonedreameryaoi (2012-05-20 00:03)

When a good horror forgets its own plot

For Insidious they took a really good movie and half way through lostthe plot and stuck a different movie on the end. The first half and thesecond just didn't match, they would have made two different films buttogether they'll didn't blend well and it fell into the American trapof showing too much and completely nullifying the scare factor. Let'stalk about the good, the film starts using classic horror scoring eventhe font for the title is old styled. It's like watching the horrorfilms of the 1930's imagine the font and music of Nosferatu. This olderscoring makes for a classic eerie atmosphere, it's an unnatural musicwith sharp sounds great for creating an unfamiliar and unsettledenvironment. It really works in the films favour as it does make thishouse feel haunted and creepy; you don't trust it and you already feellike something bad is in the house. Now the first half sets up thehaunting and some of the things you need for a horror film. We have animposing house that already feels ominous; the camera angles also makethe house seem unfriendly giving us unusual views of the staircase andshoots of locked doors. Add to the mix the young family, new home 3young children one still an infant in the crib, a new job, the pressureof motherhood and working from home, an unfamiliar area and theisolation you get as an adult when you move to a new area and only haveeach other. This all leads to added anxiety for the characters and usas the audience who begin to emphasize with their growing concern andapprehension about their new life. So everything is set up nicely for agood horror film as the characters are already under a lot of pressurewhich makes for a nice tense atmosphere to add a haunting. And thisthey do well with a subtle build-up of books moving but no one see'show or when, a strange voice on the baby monitor and some really goodjumps. I was well on my way to feeling truly unsettle and had givenmyself a heart attack at the jumps. I soon started hiding behind myhand and decided that this film was a bad idea because I was freakedout. This is a great example of a haunted house film coupled with thegrowing anxiety of these parents. Before long one of the sons is luredinto the attic another source of fear and has a fall, next day he is ina coma. We don't know the reasons and soon its 3 months later, motheris getting more and more freaked out in her home and father is spendingmore time away from home unable to help his wife. Things begin to cometo a head as it becomes apparent that something in the house wants ourcomatose youth and its getting closer so our mother finally convincesher husband to move house. As soon as we get into the new house thewife starts seeing ghosts which are a little too real looking for me.This is where the great atmosphere of the first half is ruined and thefilm takes things too far. Here's where the film goes bad and wrong.They call in the Ghostfacers (if you've seen the show Supernaturalyou'll know what I mean) they act like the comedy double act of theghost hunting world and while its works for a little while, you arelulled into a false sense of security by the comedy and then somethingjumps out at you, it goes too far and then they call in the exorcist.Now it all goes wrong, OK the exorcist seeing that it's a demonhaunting the son trying to steal his body that's fine but it justdidn't work. We get all the back story and a stupid plot aboutastro-projection and our little boy lost in a place called the Farther,his soul is lost and now ghosts are trying to take his body and worsethan that this demon. It turns out that good old dad was anastro-projector and when he was young a creepy old women stalked himgetting closer (as revealed in a selection of secret photo's his mumkept). Somehow creepy woman didn't run off with his body, dad hasforgotten this and now it's up to him to remember his power and projectinto this nightmare world to save his son and escape the demon. It justgets plan silly now, old woman exorcist puts on a gas mask with a weirdtrunk and does some odd séance that looks ridicules. And then DarthMaul appears, I'm not even joking you see his face once in the normalworld and I jumped like crazy but then we meet him in crazy ghost worldhe's fully revealed and just not scary if you've seen the recent StarWars movies. The astro Farther scene just plays out too much we exploreall these ghosts that we know nothing about, they're not needed it justbulks out a storyline that is running away with itself. Then we enteran area that looks like the VIP area of a night club mixed with thePhantom of the Opera's lair. Just to make things weird we see thatDarth Maul is a bit of a carnival fan, loves an old record spinning ona classic turn table does Darth Maul. By now we've seen the big bad inall its glory the film is pretty much over for me as its way to obviousand just not scary watching this CGI demon chase our characters aroundthe place trying to get back to their bodies. The film does try to havea quirky twist, one that they flash back to about 5mins after we sawit, but it's just not enough to save a failed second half.

jtshiltz (2012-05-19 12:02)

This movie was horrifying

I just don't understand why people are writing such bad reviews of thismovie. I was shaking on the edge of my seat the whole time, genuinelycreeped out. I am not easily scared, and I found Paranormal Activity tobe quite hokey, looking like it was filmed by a teenager. I think itwas one of the better haunted house type movies in the horror genre. Ithink my mom almost had a heart attack a few times throughout the film,and she eventually had to leave, because she was beside herself. If yougo see this movie, odds are it's going to scare you. If not, maybeyou're just not letting yourself be scared. It has the feel that it hasbeen influenced by some other horror movies from the past, but it makesitself unique in many ways as well. This movie will ensure no sleep fora few days.... GO SEE IT!

cdarbygrl1 (2012-05-19 05:08)

Great, scary movie!! Loved it!!

I loved this movie, it was really scary!! I didn't know exactly whatthe movie was about when I went, hadn't looked it up on IMDb. So I waspleasantly surprised that it wasn't a typical slasher or ghost movie. Iscreamed several times and just had chill bumps thru the last half ofthe movie! In comparison, Paranormal Activity 2 had some chillingmoments, but you pretty much knew when they were coming. This movie hadLOTS of scary moments!! I loved that it wasn't gory, and it had somegreat 70's type horror movie scenes/music/sound effects. At thebeginning of the movie, when the name of the film came up, the soundand look of the title reminded me of many old scary movies, when theyrelied more on sound effects than computer generated effects. It wassurprising and unpredictable at times. It was not corny, either. Veryrefreshing for a scary movie lover!! I went with a friend that I alwayssee scary movies with, and we both agreed that this was the scariestmovie we have seen in a few years! I would definitely recommend it toanyone that loves horror/ghost movies!!!

Willie Waffle (2012-05-18 06:57)

Insidious feels like a traditional, old fashioned horror movie in all of the right ways.

Laura Clifford (2012-05-17 11:57)

The film begins well, bridges the middle with a comically creepy set piece, then goes to hell in a hand basket with a poorly conceived climax that serves no scares.

Janey (2012-05-16 19:41)

Three reasons to see this movie:

1) I haven't logged into my IMDb account in about a year and a half. Idid today just to give this 9/10.2) I have never yelled like a little bitch in a movie before. Incinemas or watching at home. I did in this. I am still so on edge andfeeling physically ill from being in panic mode for so long I fear Imight not sleep tonight. Or, ever again.3) Go see this movie. If you want a jump out of your seat, "I won't beable to sleep tonight" film, (a more old fashioned screeching violinshorror) that you wish they would keep making, go see it now.Filmmakers need to keep making horror movies like this.

Horrorfan73 (2012-05-15 05:47)

Fantastic Movie! Should have been rated "R!"

This movie is without a doubt one of the best horror films that we'veseen in years and I wish it had been rated "R" just to keep theannoying brats out of the theater. I cannot express enough angsttowards the immaturity of unsupervised morons talking, texting andgetting up constantly during an interesting and clever film such asthis. Regardless though the content is not enough to make me trulythink this film should be "R," just make it "R" anyway, to stop adultsfrom having to put up with this kind of nonsense! Oh yeah, the movie .. . AWESOME!!! I've seen it twice already and it is still fun andengrossing experience. I love the look of the demon and his minions. Ilove the awesome and frightening set ups to the spooky games theseforces play and prey on these people. The overlapping of the dimensionsis really great and interesting. It had a "Twilight Zone" feel inplaces that really worked with the situation.Movies like this work so much with people's imaginations, if they havethem . . . The more imagination you have the better this is because itgives you just enough to be amazed by these ideas . . . And inspired!

dflores-558-782082 (2012-05-14 16:54)

Why did I not go see this in theaters?

Let me start off by saying there are too, too many poor horror moviesmade. the one word titled monster movies filled with gore were toomuch. thank God for INSIDIOUS!! this movie had little blood. You know ahorror movie is good when it can scare you without splattering bloodand entrails everywhere! I will explain now why i think insidious isthe best horror movie i think of all time.First off, i do not scare easily. i just can't. when this movie wasover, the smallest crack or whistle made waves of goosebumps run downmy arms. second, i jumped more than a ditsy schoolgirl with ajump-rope. third, the camera angles and quick jolts of subliminal facesand shadowy figures were a blast. by the end of it my heart waspounding, my arms were trembling, and I was begging for the movie tocontinue. characters, protagonist and even antagonistic were sublime,and the tension the movie built made this movie absolute fun! i givethis movie a 9 out of 10 for an unresolved absence of a characterduring the second half of the movie, it never answered that. but myfriend had to bring that up, i was too in love with the beginning,middle, and end of this movie and i have never been this scared in mylife.. I'm sleeping with the lights on for a while! other than that,see this movie. if you enjoy jumping and freaking out but having fun atthe same time, this movie is for you!