Insidious - Film Analysis

Insidious is a Horror/Supernatural Thriller film released in April 2011, directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. The two are friends who have worked on other successful projects in the past, such as saga's like Saw and Paranormal Activity, which are of a related genre, therefore it can be assumed that this film would follow closely with them.

It tells the story of a young family that makes the terrifying discovery that the body of their comatose son has become a "vessel" for malevolent entities, while his consciousness lies trapped in the dark and disturbing realm known as "The Further."

The opening and closing titles for the film strike fear immediately into the audience with its use of loud, unsettling noise and flickering red letters. This creates a sudden sense of danger and horror on a cliché level, like a classic horror film you would expect a few decades earlier. The tribute is unusual but good, and it delivers exactly what it sub-consciously suggests.

Again the plot is quite cliché, as it focuses on the hauntings and strange happenings to an innocent family. However some of that focus is on the realm in which the boy is lost in, through astral projection, and is used to explain more justifiably why there are entities and spirits in the house. It also uses the character of an expert who is called in for help, who specialises in dealing with these types of paranormal incidents, but it is later revealed that even she has never seen an entity this powerful before, which means if she is vulnerable, the family must definitely be in danger, emphasising that this film is not just another ghostly encounter and that the audience should be prepared for some level of fear.

As expected with this genre and film, it uses many sequences of suspense to create a dramatic effect, through use of camera angles, editing and of course, non-diegetic soundtrack, which includes simple repeated melodies of string instruments along with stereotypical child lullabys or rhymes. The camera angles are mostly close-ups, or wide shots, either to display a character's facial expression or to display the setting being used.

In terms of setting and props, they're conventional in terms of this type of film, as it features a big american suburban house, which contains an attic where the equilibrium is disrupted initially. Whilst it also uses props such as paranormal detection equipment, Ouija boards etc. which are all useful but at the same time dangerous to discovering the antagonist in the plot.

I think its a good example of its supposed genre which whilst sticking to most conventions, it uses its own dramatised plot with its own twists.