Insidious
I went to Ikebukuro on a whim today, and while still on a train, decided to see a movie. Yes, you've guessed right, I got paid yesterday. Plus it was August pay no less, which means a little more than usual (that's the only plus side of working during Obon).
*ah, money, money, where should I spend you*
Anyway, since the movie I got really interested in wouldn't be shown for another two weeks or so, I had to go with what they had, and so, upon being told seeing Heart no Kuni no Alice without knowing the game or anime would be pointless (of course the cash window lady didn't dare to spell the word pointless, she properly stopped after chotto...), I decided on Insidious.
It's a Western movie, a USA one too, so a weird choice for me actually. The only time I went to see a western movie here in Japan was when my friend wanted to see it and he was paying :P.
Now, I must say I have mixed feelings about Insidious. Mixed, because even though it was nowhere around what I would want it to be, it was actually much better than I expected it to be.
First of all, there's no unnecessary ketchup blood and guts flying around. A big plus if you ask me. I've never been afraid of blood (and frankly I can't understand people who are, it's not like blood itself can hurt you), and repetitive overuse either bores me to no end (lite) or makes me feel sick (gore). So, if you want to watch a horror movie but aren't big on intestines stealing too much camera, Insidious is a good choice.
On the other hand, the methods of scaring the viewer are very typical to western horror. Most of the time they will simply surprise you in an good, old, jack-in-the-box way. The motives of the ghosts are fully explained about half-way through the movie, in case you didn't get them yourself before, and from then on it becomes very simple, down right to the last scene. You're watching the characters being scared, but you, the viewer, have nothing to be afraid of anymore, you can sit back and at most have fun predicting where will the jack pop out of next (the music or lack thereof mostly gives it up before though).
***SPOILER***
The story isn't bad. The family moves in to a new house, one of their sons hits his head in the attic and fells into a weird coma, scary things start to happen, so they act surprisingly level-headed for horror movie characters, and actually move out. However, ghosts seem to have followed them to their new place, as it apparently wasn't the house that was haunted (well, it originally was), but their son, who's been experiencing astral projection in his dreams and got caught in the spiritual world, leaving his soulless yet alive body empty and inviting for all kinds of wandering spirits.
***END OF SPOILER***
The idea is clever and could send some chills down your spine but sadly, it isn't explored as well as it could have been. There's so many movies already made about possessed children, the director probably wanted to avoid that in order to make his story original. However, it doesn't feel like he gave you anything instead. The way he resolved things isn't bad (albeit a little obvious after the detailed explanation we get), but honestly speaking, instead of it being the textbook pseudo-suspense ending, I'd like to see that happening much sooner, and developing the plot. But for that, you'd need to give the ghosts a little more than just craving for life, you'd need to give them, or at least one of them, something along the lines of a character. And that's something ghosts in Insidious lack.
Overall, it's not a bad picture. It doesn't make your popcorn come back after swallowed, the characters are fairly intelligent, and the story, even if not genius, is more than watchable. Just don't expect to be surprised by anything else than a ghost jumping out of where you actually didn't expect it for once.
PS: and the one I want to and WILL see soon is this:
*ah, money, money, where should I spend you*
Anyway, since the movie I got really interested in wouldn't be shown for another two weeks or so, I had to go with what they had, and so, upon being told seeing Heart no Kuni no Alice without knowing the game or anime would be pointless (of course the cash window lady didn't dare to spell the word pointless, she properly stopped after chotto...), I decided on Insidious.
It's a Western movie, a USA one too, so a weird choice for me actually. The only time I went to see a western movie here in Japan was when my friend wanted to see it and he was paying :P.
Now, I must say I have mixed feelings about Insidious. Mixed, because even though it was nowhere around what I would want it to be, it was actually much better than I expected it to be.
First of all, there's no unnecessary ketchup blood and guts flying around. A big plus if you ask me. I've never been afraid of blood (and frankly I can't understand people who are, it's not like blood itself can hurt you), and repetitive overuse either bores me to no end (lite) or makes me feel sick (gore). So, if you want to watch a horror movie but aren't big on intestines stealing too much camera, Insidious is a good choice.
On the other hand, the methods of scaring the viewer are very typical to western horror. Most of the time they will simply surprise you in an good, old, jack-in-the-box way. The motives of the ghosts are fully explained about half-way through the movie, in case you didn't get them yourself before, and from then on it becomes very simple, down right to the last scene. You're watching the characters being scared, but you, the viewer, have nothing to be afraid of anymore, you can sit back and at most have fun predicting where will the jack pop out of next (the music or lack thereof mostly gives it up before though).
***SPOILER***
The story isn't bad. The family moves in to a new house, one of their sons hits his head in the attic and fells into a weird coma, scary things start to happen, so they act surprisingly level-headed for horror movie characters, and actually move out. However, ghosts seem to have followed them to their new place, as it apparently wasn't the house that was haunted (well, it originally was), but their son, who's been experiencing astral projection in his dreams and got caught in the spiritual world, leaving his soulless yet alive body empty and inviting for all kinds of wandering spirits.
***END OF SPOILER***
The idea is clever and could send some chills down your spine but sadly, it isn't explored as well as it could have been. There's so many movies already made about possessed children, the director probably wanted to avoid that in order to make his story original. However, it doesn't feel like he gave you anything instead. The way he resolved things isn't bad (albeit a little obvious after the detailed explanation we get), but honestly speaking, instead of it being the textbook pseudo-suspense ending, I'd like to see that happening much sooner, and developing the plot. But for that, you'd need to give the ghosts a little more than just craving for life, you'd need to give them, or at least one of them, something along the lines of a character. And that's something ghosts in Insidious lack.
Overall, it's not a bad picture. It doesn't make your popcorn come back after swallowed, the characters are fairly intelligent, and the story, even if not genius, is more than watchable. Just don't expect to be surprised by anything else than a ghost jumping out of where you actually didn't expect it for once.
PS: and the one I want to and WILL see soon is this:
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