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Insidious

INSIDIOUS (James Wan). See listing. Rating: NN


James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell – who gave the world the Saw franchise – team up with Paranormal Activity producer Oren Peli for a story about a family plagued by spooky craziness.

Unassuming parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have barely settled into a new house when eldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) falls into a coma and Renai starts seeing strange figures hovering over their infant daughter’s bed.

It’s more a reworking of Poltergeist than anything else, with Wilson and Byrne spending a lot of time walking into rooms while something scary lurks just out of frame. The tension is nicely handled in the first half, but once it’s time to start paying off with proper horror, Wan falls back on the same imagery he always uses.

If you’re terrified of Tiny Tim chart hits and visions of 1950s families in their Sunday best, this might be one of the most intense theatrical experiences you ever have. If you’re not, well, it’s still way better than the one with the ventriloquist’s dummy.

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