I am one of those horror fans who turn their nose up at a PG-13 rating. It’s easy to assume that any movie that isn’t rated R won’t show some kind of carnage candy or dare to explore taboo themes or ideas. There’s a misconception that PG-13 means the filmmakers are going to play it safe. Mistakenly, I felt that way about 2010’s Insidious, but that was before I actually sat and watched the film. In this case, I judged a book by its PG-13 cover, but I will totally admit that was unfair. Insidious is a surprisingly scary PG-13 horror movie. Directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the supernatural horror film follows Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne), who move into a haunted house. Their son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), seems to be the most susceptible to the demon. He goes into the attic, lets out an inexplicable scream, and then mysteriously falls into a coma the next day. He is trapped in a hellish realm known as The Further. I have a 9-month-old at home, and let me just say, rewatching Insidious as a new mom brings it to a whole new level. The movie touches on every parent’s ultimate fear.
Insidious has a terrifying story and plenty of creepy visuals to match. Numerous times throughout the movie, a ghostly apparition with long hair is seen in Kali’s nursery. The other son, Foster, swears he has seen the comatose Dalton walking around the house. By far, the scariest moment in the film, and now the most iconic, is the red demon appearing behind Josh. I’m still haunted by that frightening moment in Insidious. It’s a terrific jump scare because it’s earned and unexpected. I am still always waiting for the red demon to show up behind me, too.
Insidious Still Holds Up Fourteen Years Later
The witch in Insidious is holding a candleImage by Blumhouse Productions
Some horror movies have only one good moment, and the rest of the film is kind of boring. That’s not the case with Insidious. It seems as though it has only been recently that fans of the genre are starting to appreciate James Wan as a filmmaker. He knows exactly how to craft a suspenseful film, and he does it in all subgenres of horror — gory films like Saw, campy body horror like Malignant, ghost movies like those in The Conjuring Universe. The man is really good at directing scary movies. He’s also no slouch at writing screenplays, as evidenced by underrated gems like Dead Silence and Lights Out.
James Wan brings all those skills to the table with Insidious. The film is beautifully shot with a great production design of the house’s interior. It is also well-acted with memorable music. The haunting theme was made using 33 violins. I heard the song “Tip Toe Through the Tulips” by Tiny Tim in the pilot episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, where it was used for zaniness and whimsy. SpongeBob proves his skills as a fry cook while the song plays. Insidious totally destroyed that innocent association with the song. There’s a moment in the movie where Renai puts on a record of “Tip Toe Through the Tulips,” and the camera creeps around the dark house. It almost feels like the camera serves as the demon at that moment, wandering through the hallways and rooms without the Lambert family being any the wiser.
When discussing the soundtrack, James Wan had this to say:
We wanted a lot of the scare sequences to play really silent. But, what I like to do with the soundtrack is set you on edge with a really loud, sort of like, atonal scratchy violin score, mixing with some really weird piano bangs and take that away and all of a sudden, you’re like, ‘What just happened there?'”
The music is part of why the red demon moment is so effective. It feels like that ghost that’s been creeping around throughout the movie has finally shown itself. As Wan mentioned, the soundtrack in that scene is essentially non-existent until the demon pops up behind Josh. It is then that the loud “atonal scratchy violin score” can be heard. I jumped out of my skin because I wasn’t expecting that at all.
The Red Demon Is the Scariest Part of Insidious
Josh doesn’t notice the demon behind him in InsidiousImage via Blumhouse
To really appreciate the red demon scare in Insidious, one needs to understand how the scare is set up. Josh and his mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) are sitting at the dining room table. The scene cuts away to the nightmare that Lorraine is telling her son about, transporting viewers to a long, dark hallway. We are then immersed in that hallway for the next minute and a half as she describes her nightmare in a hushed tone. The camera is being used from Lorraine’s perspective as she traverses each room, eventually ending up in Dalton’s dark bedroom.
Lorraine chillingly tells Josh there was someone standing in the corner behind Dalton’s bed. A dark figure with claw-like hands is seen lurking once the door finally creeps all the way open. Sure, it’s just a dream, but it’s scary to learn that Lorraine is also seeing someone in Dalton’s room since Renai had insisted that she had the same experience.
Lorraine’s nightmare is essentially the loud music that typically precedes jump scares in horror movies. The dark rooms, creaking doors, and the ominous feeling associated with the dream serve to make the viewer feel tense. Usually in scenes like this in paranormal movies, nothing happens until later. These scenes help build exposition surrounding a haunting. However, Insidious catches viewers off guard by revealing the demon behind Josh. The only warning that something is coming is Lorraine’s shocked face and the same creaking noise from the dream coming into the present. She sees the red demon behind Josh, and naturally, screams and flips over her chair.
Shortly after Lorraine sees the red demon, Insidious reaches its climactic point. Bangs can be heard from the other side of Dalton’s door, and the handle violently rattles. Josh, Lorraine, and Renai get the door open, only to discover that the entire room is upside down and Dalton is lying on the ground. At this moment, Josh is forced to accept that they’re dealing with a sinister supernatural force.
Everything about this scene in Insidious was terrifying to me. The shadowy figure in the corner of the room made me sleep with a night light on for weeks, much to the annoyance of my husband. After all, it exploits our worst fears of the dark. It was even more unsettling to see Dalton’s bedroom in disarray afterward. Luckily, I watched the movie before I had a son of my own because I probably would have slept in a sleeping bag on the floor of his nursery so that I could make sure he didn’t have a threatening dark figure of his own lurking in the corner. All sleep training would have gone completely out the window!
Reviews Were Mixed, But Insidious Still Became a Respectable Franchise
Image via Blumhouse
Word of mouth and the creepy trailers helped attract a large audience to see Insidious in theaters. The film earned an impressive $100 million on a $1.5 million budget, making it one of the most profitable films of the year. Reactions to the film were pretty mixed. It has a 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 52 on Metacritic, and a 6.8/10 on IMDb. Roger Ebert, critic for The Chicago Tribune, gave the film a 2.5 out of 4.
It depends on characters, atmosphere, sneaky happenings and mounting dread. This one is not terrifically good, but moviegoers will get what they’re expecting.
I am not going to argue with Roger Ebert, but in my experience, I got more than what I was expecting. Like I mentioned, I have doubts when it comes to PG-13 horror movies. Insidious was wonderfully creepy from start to finish. The jump scares seemed purposeful as well. It was exactly what a haunted house movie should have been in my opinion.
Since the release of Insidious in 2010, the red demon jump scare has been spoiled. It is the image that comes up first when Googling the movie. Blumhouse has been fairly hit-and-miss since then, but I personally will always check out what they have to offer. I even saw Night Swim in theaters! It all goes back to the positive experience I had watching Insidious, the terrifying red demon jump scare being the highlight of that experience. I can’t wait to finally watch all the sequels.
Release Date
April 1, 2011
Runtime
103 minutes
