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Ross (3284 KP) rated Insidious (2010) in Movies

Nov 27, 2017 (Updated Nov 27, 2017)  
Insidious (2010)
Insidious (2010)
2010 | Horror
8
7.3 (23 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The idea (1 more)
The creepy assortment of ghosts
Most of the cast (0 more)
With my wife out for the night and the kids all tucked up in bed, I decided to treat myself to a horror film, and Insidious was what I opted for (having watched the set of Sinister films a few months ago).
The film follows a fairly similar trajectory: weird things happen, the house is haunted, no its not the house its the child that's haunted, demons, triumph, happy ending. I don't think that's a spoiler as it describes 90% of the recent horror films.
A family with three young children move to a new home and soon one of the children bumps his head and ends up in a coma. From there some weird things start to happen.
Rose Byrne is excellent as the housewife struggling to raise her three kids and write music to kickstart her new career. It is her who experiences most of the unpleasant visitations, being stuck at home all day with the baby and her son in a coma. In one particularly creepy scene in the new house, she plays the role superbly (and I will never again listen to Tiptoe through the Tulips without shivering).
As with most decent horror films, this doesn't try to do anything new with the bulk of the film, but has an underlying new idea shaping it (and revealing that would be a spoiler!) that looks to explain the haunting.
Apart from Rose Byrne, I found the rest of the cast really quite poor, but they're acting during the haunting scenes didn't manage to spoil them too much.
Overall, a great creepy film that ticks all the boxes and leaves you wanting to watch the sequel.
  
The Murder House
The Murder House
James Patterson, David Ellis | 2015 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.5 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
7 Ocean Drive also known as The Murder House, gives Detective Jenna Murphy the creeps. She used to play on the beaches right outside this house when she was little. Since she has been away from Southhampton Township for so long, she can't recall why. When two dead bodies are found in the house, Detective Murphy is on the case to find the killer. The number one suspect, Noah Walker has strong ties to the house and is known for his past crimes. The story behind the house is a good setting for any haunted house, but this house isn't exactly haunted as it is just strange for all the death in encapsulates.

The Murder House is a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You get to a point where you think you know what is going to happen next, and chances are you will be wrong. You don't know who to route for to be the bad guy or the good guy. I found myself yelling at the book and gasping on a few occasions because I couldn't believe what was happening. I thought I had it all figured out from the beginning. It's been a while since I've read a James Patterson book where I was wrong about who the killer was going to be. I was really stumped on this one. I was truly immersed in the story. I have always been a big James Patterson fan and this book I will have to say will be one of my favorites. It has everything you want from a good thriller. I always will recommend a book by James Patterson, they are usually quick to read and entertaining, but this one is highly recommended.
  
Dark Feed (2012)
Dark Feed (2012)
2012 | Horror
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – The characters are all designed to be different members of a film crew from actors to special effects guys, we just get to learn which part of the movie they are involved in without getting to see much else about the characters themselves. We don’t see to learn enough about any of the characters making it hard to figure out just who is meant to be the lead character.

Performance – The performances are not great which does reflect the idea of the film but by the end you are just left wondering if the lead character is going to take over the performing but no.

Story – The story is film crew in former mental hospital that once did experiments on the patients is haunted and now they are about to become the latest victims of the hospital, this is fine but sadly it just doesn’t reach the levels it should do with scares which are mostly messing around between the crew and just something we have seen before.

Horror – There is little to no scares going on through this movie, we have moments that build up but in the end most are false scares which just make you not care about later ones.

Settings – The setting is the highlight of the film as we get to see the haunted abandoned location making for the scares.

Special Effects – The effects are not that impressive either.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not knowing who was the main character until too late into the film.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror film with a good idea but sadly turns into something that gets confusing as we are left wondering who to root for and just if anything scary will happen.

 

Overall: Messy Horror Film
  
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
1998 | Horror
Jamie Lee returns!
Coming off the pukefest that was the Curse of Michael Myers, filmmakers had nowhere to go but up.

Seeing Jamie Lee Curtis back as Laurie Strode alongside younger versions of Michelle Williams, Josh Hartnett and Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave me a thrill. Unfortunately, the screenplay is substandard and doesn't really give the characters much to do.

Since she was last seen, Laurie has gone into hiding with her teenage son and is now a teacher at a private school in California still haunted by the events on Halloween 20 years ago.

The last act redeems the film a little with the family reunion and final confrontation being enjoyable and nostalgic; however, when the film ends I still had the feeling like an opportunity to make a truly great horror film was wasted.