Insidious

HORROR; 1hr 43min

STARRING: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne


Strap yourselves in: Byrne and Wilson

As film-makers, James Wan and Leigh Whannell pull no punches, which anyone who has sat-slash-squirmed through their Saw series would know, shudder. Insidious gives haunted houses a whole new bad name and once again, director Wan and writer-performer Whannell go all out. Teaming up with Paranormal Activity producers, they steep the screen in funereal tones, pile on exclamatory sound effects and usher in a rogues’ gallery of elusive and creepy demons.

 

Wilson and Byrne keep their actorly wits about them as Josh and Renai, a straight-arrow married couple with three little kids, one of whom (Ty Simpkins ) apparently becomes comatose overnight. It’s a deliriously scary trip from there, with the two Ws gleefully embracing the cheeseball outer limits while their key cast strikes a credibility balance with strong and sure performances — Lin Shaye is priceless as a medium with one wacky message. Logic and reason don’t so much take a back seat as bail completely when the freak-show hits top gear, but who needs them with the joint jumping sky high?