There has been a wonderful resurgence in the horror genre recently. We are spoiled today by well-performing horror films coming out all the time. not just on Halloween. Which is wonderful! Because I love me some horror films. I think a lot of modern horror has to look to Saw as inspiration. Saw really took off and showed that horror films really could be money-makers in the box office. Of course, Saw had a wonderful run and barely limped across the finish line. But what about the other horror franchises that have come out of this resurgence?

Let’s look no further than another James Wan franchise, Insidious. James Wan is actually the writer and director for Saw. I loved Saw when it came out and really looked forward to (still do look forward to) everything James Wan has done since. Insidious is no exception. I remember the excitement for this film was building and building back in 2010. There was one thing about this film that really scared me, however. Insidious is a PG-13 horror film. Although commonplace now, I remember thinking that there was no way that a PG-13 horror film was going to be any good. Because of this, Insidious isn’t as brutal as other R-rated horror films, but it still gets the job done.

Because Insidious is scary… Well, the first half of it is. The buildup to the main reveal and the tension that is built is palpable. It’s wonderfully paced and does a terrific job of building the universe. I really loved this part of the movie. The back half, however, really veers into laughable. Once the half man, half goat baddie is shown, there really is no recovering the tension. It simply isn’t scary any more.

As for the actual plot, it’s whatever. It’s nothing amazing and is easily forgettable. I think it does a better job of setting up the sequels than it does driving this movie. Without being to spoiler-filled (I had to mention the man goat, sorry) it’s fairly predictable once the main drive is revealed. The father is the typical dumbass dad in scary movies and the mother is even less useful. Luckily there are characters that know what is going on and really bail this ship out in the back half. But all-in-all, it’s totally run-of-the-mill on plot. Nothing new here really.

Overall, Insidious gets a 2 out of 4. I think the setup is a whole lot better than the payoff. It does make me want to watch the sequels, but that’s about it. It’s easily forgettable, especially when compared to all the movies James Wan has made since. I think it’s worth a visit to establish yourself with the franchise, but I wouldn’t really pick it for movie of the year. I do think that some of that could be from the PG-13 rating, but I just feel this movie could have been so much better. I am excited to watch the rest of the franchise though. Similarly to a dad in a horror movie, I will continue watching this franchise even when my wife, kids, neighbors, dog, and priest tells me to stop.