Insidious

[Movie Mike]

Paul, excellent review and what a nice thing to finally get a scary movie I can heartily recommend to others. I agree that the "Other Side" wasn't as effective as one would have hoped, but the ghosts inhabiting were pretty damn creepy, especially the murdered family. The one element that didn't work at all for me was the look of the demon. He wasn't scary. He was basically Darth Maul with furry legs. They really should have gone with the "less is more" approach with how much you saw of the demon as he was much more effective in the shadows.

[ppritchard]

Paul, excellent review and what a nice thing to finally get a scary movie I can heartily recommend to others. I agree that the "Other Side" wasn't as effective as one would have hoped, but the ghosts inhabiting were pretty damn creepy, especially the murdered family. The one element that didn't work at all for me was the look of the demon. He wasn't scary. He was basically Darth Maul with furry legs. They really should have gone with the "less is more" approach with how much you saw of the demon as he was much more effective in the shadows.

Hey, Mike. Thanks for the kind feedback.

Despite its flaws-the Darth Maul comment is right on the money by the way-Insidious is still a wonderful horror movie that, as you point out, can be recommended to anyone with a love of the genre. Considering this is from the guys who did as much as anyone in bringing the torture porn sub-genre to the masses, they show a real understanding of how classic horror works. Small moments, such as the first (barely glimpsed) appearance of the dancing child ghost are amongst the most chilling I've seen for a good long time.

[Movie Mike]

... they show a real understanding of how classic horror works. Small moments, such as the first (barely glimpsed) appearance of the dancing child ghost are amongst the most chilling I've seen for a good long time.

Exactly, it's is hard to believe that the guys who brought us Saw did this, I've always preferred the kind of scary that gets the hairs on your arms to stand up, not the kind that has your stomach churning because someone got disemboweled horribly. Not that I'm against a good slasher film, Halloween etc, but it seems we don't get too many good ghost stories nowadays. The balance is out of whack.

If you want to track down a great ghost story with plenty of chills and a good mystery I recommend The Changeling with George C. Scott.

[Steve T Power]

Below definitely takes the "chills up the spine" cake for me.