The Films of James Wan

When I went to see Insidious in the theaters it was a 10pm showing that would finish right before my graveyard shift at work, but I wasn't worried because Insidious was supposed to be a PG-13 thrill fest that would have one or two good scares and nothing more.  I've never been so wrong in my life!  The only other time I've been that horribly wrong is when I commented on a lady's pregnant belly... she wasn't.  I can honestly say that Insidious holds the mantle of being the scariest movie of all time for me, and to quote a friend "Sometimes when I walk through the apartment at night, all I can think is, 'Do not think about Insidious.  Do not think about Insidious'".  That was something I failed at completely, because when I went to work that night I was afraid to look out the windows because it was pitch black and I thought that at any moment I could see the old women in the wedding dress walking around... and then I may or may not have peed my pants.  Insidious was the first of Writer/Director James Wan's movies that I've seen and liked, which then inspired me to view his other works, such as: Dead Silence, and Saw (hated the sequels, loved the original).  After viewing Insidious and finishing Dead Silence I was thinking to myself "what is it about Wan's movies that makes them so scary to boot?!"  because Dead Silence in my opinion was almost just as scary

as Insidious, but it didn't scar me as much because I watched it during the day.  Two of the things he does well is that he uses the music and silence perfectly, meaning that he'll have a scene where a person walks around the house and it's so quiet you can hear the mice eating or mating in the walls, then suddenly you'll have the crazy/horrific violin music burst out when a ghost or a demon makes itself known!! 
James Wan is so good at creating those horrific moments that when they happen and I get scared, I squeal like a pig in the slaughterhouse and my mind is taken back to the basic fears of my youth when I was afraid of what was under the bed or living in the closet.  While the music and silence are some of the greatest weapons Wan has in his movie making arsenal (hehe, arsenal), the single greatest (and scariest) characteristic he uses in all his films is his use of frightening facial expressions.  Eff that dude!!  some of the facial expressions he uses scare me about as much as the dog Shiloh gets scared when getting beaten by his owner.  A perfect example of creepy faces is the entire film of Dead Silence with all the Dummies.  I don't know who in the world thought dummies were cute and loveable, because to me I thought they were the source of all evil way before Slappy made them famous in Goosebumps, but Dead
Silence brought their creepiness to a whole new level.  It looks like things are only going to get crazier as well, because James Wan's new movie called The Conjuring is coming out soon, and some of the earlier reviews I've been reading say "it's the scariest supernatural horror film in decades" which sounds like something people say about a lot of movies, but since this is regarding a James Wan film it gives me a lot of promise of something awesome!  Below the trailer for The Conjuring is the trailer for Insidious Chapter 2, so I can already see myself viewing both these movies in the theater, blaming my shaking hands on low blood sugar.

#3 Insidious

Overview:  After moving into a new house, and getting a new job everything seems groovy for the Lambert family, all except for their last name.  When their suspiciously quiet son falls into a coma, freaky things start happening all around the house, which drives Adam Lambert's family to move.  When the hauntings continue in the new place, they finally realize "It's not the house that's haunted... it's your son", said the creepy old woman.  Guess they should get reimbursed for the faulty doctor appointments, because that man was wrong! Just like Bill Clinton was during the sex scandal.

The Good:  This may be number 3 on my list, but this is by far the SCARIEST movie I have ever seen!!  When the movie ended at 11pm I was so scared that I had to call C and talk to her the entire drive home, and at the same time all my windows were down and the car lights were on; I felt like a kid where I was scared of Paris Hilton being in the closet.  I'm not going to mention the acting much, because it was obviously good, especialy Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne as the leading cast.  There are some images in this movie that will stick with you for weeks after it's over, heck I'm still checking the back seat of my car and making sure there's no crazy-eyed pioneer girl waiting to haunt me.  Speaking of Pioneer girls, the scariest part of this movie are these two dead ladies wearing poodle skirts who look like they're from the 1950's, they even make the twins from "The Shinning" look harmless.  This may be a bad thing, but what makes this such a good Horror movie is it NEVER LETS UP!  Several hundreds of scary movies don't have enough terror, this one might have too much, because once something really scary happens, something scarier arrives about half a second later.  It's an unsettling feeling; almost like going up the tracks of a very tall roller coaster and remembering you forgot to pee.

The Bad:  I don't want to give anything away, because everything in this movie needs to come as a surprise, but there is one part of it that may be a bit confusing; "Insidious" is divided into two parts.  The first half of the movie is more like an old-fashioned haunted house story, then the second part is like something out of "Are You Afraid Of The Dark".  None of this bothers me, because I thought the movie was sheer perfection, but there are some people out there who might get confused.


The Ugly:  When it comes to Horror I feel like I can handle a lot, regardless of how much shock value the movie has, but "Insidious" is the first Horror film EVER to actually make me afraid of the dark.  The most frequent Horror movie watcher will be laying down in the bathroom in the fetal position right next to the toilet; I have crohns so i'm allowed to do those things without being judged to harshly... right?

4 1/2 out of 5