Movies Comparative

After watching Insidious, I have to admit it remind me of Paranormal Activity. They both use elements such as super natural forces, camera angles, and lighting in similar ways. In both movies, the viewers see super natural forces interacting with the characters such as doors closing and opening on their own. These scenes bring viewer suspense in a creepy way. Another aspect the two movies have in common is the use of camera angles. In both movies, many scenes are filmed in first person point of view. By doing so, it captures the viewers into the movie and let them experience the images as if they are part of the story. The last thing I notice is that the lighting in both movies is similar. They both use dimmed but not totally dark lighting (night vision) during curtain scene to create more intensity.

Insidious. Dir. James Van. Perf. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin
   Shaye, Barara Hershey and Leigh Whannell. Film District, 2011. Film.
Insidious Cover. Insidious. 2011. imageevent.com. Web. 28 Mar 2013.
Paranormal Activity. Dir. Oren Peli. Perf. Katie Featherston, Micah Slot and Mark Fredrichs.
   Paramount Picture, 2007. Film.
Paranormal Activity Cover. Paranormal Activity. 2011. blogspot.com. Web. 28 Mar 2013.

Psychological Aspects of Horror

What make Insidious a successful horror movie? Director James Wan did a good job of submerging the viewers into the movie. The movie slowly build up the intensity by introducing what seem to be an ordinary family, but as the movie progress, the viewers learn that there's more. Insidious also raises curiosity for the viewer through presenting an unexplained scenario that happened to Dalton (Ty Simpkins). The main thing that kept my interest throughout the movie was the use of sound tracks. Track 20 "Their Coming Through" is a good example. This sound track played at 1:32:27 in the movie. The reason this sound track caught my attention is because it helps create intensity. Patrick Wilson (Josh) and Ty Simpkins (Dalton) were running for their lives to cross the realm of the dead and into the realm of the living. The sound causes my heart to race while giving me goose bumps at the same time. Below are a few sound tracks I've found on YouTube that you can check out to see what I mean.

Insidious. Dir. James Van. Perf. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin
   Shaye, Barara Hershey and Leigh Whannell. Film District, 2011. Film.

Gostoneph17. "Their Coming Through by Joseph Bishara." Online video clip.

   YouTube. YouTube, 4 Aug. 2012. Web. 28. Mar. 2013.

Gostoneph17. "It Said It Was A Visitor by Joseph Bishara." Online video clip.

   YouTube. YouTube, 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 28. Mar. 2013.

Gostoneph17. "Void Moment Suite by Joseph Bishara." Online video clip.

   YouTube. YouTube, 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 28. Mar. 2013.

REVIEW

Berardinelli, James. "Insidious Movie Review" Reelviews TM, 2 Apr. 2011. Web. 27 

   Mar. 2013.

   <http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2281>

REVIEW SUMMARY: Overall, Berardinellie thought that Insidious was a good movie. However, he felt that the director failed to make the last 45 minutes of the movie as intensive as the first. Berardinelli gave Wan (the director) credits for successfully making a psychological horror movie without having to make it gory compare to other movies. He also thought that Wan was successful at drawing the audience into the story with his uses of camera angles which include hand-held and point of view shots. Berradinellie also mentioned that the characters in the movie were believable because they react to the situation just like how the viewer might react. In a way, the critic thought the movie was unsettling because it features a child in danger which makes it too similar The Exorcist. Berradinellie concluded that Insidious was a well thought out movie that geared toward intelligent and patient viewers rather than the typical audience who search for a fast and graphical movie.

James Wan

BIO: James Wan was born on February 27, 1977 in Kuching, Malaysia. He attended the Royal Melborne Institute of Technology. He knew he wanted to be in the film industry since he was 14 years old. His first foot into the film industry was when he and his friend, Leigh Whannel, impressed the director of Saw by assisting the development of its characters. He went on and successfully directed his own movie Insidious which was released in 2011. He's currently directing his next movie called The Conjuring which is scheduled to release on July 19, 2013.

"James Wan Biography." tribute.ca, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

Wan, James. “Bio Picture” n.d examiner.com. Web 27 Mar. 2013.

   <http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/dk_wan.jpg>

INSIDIOUS Must Watch Horror!

                                                             

The Story: An ordinary couple and their 3 children just moved into their new home. One day, they encountered a paranormal activity that turned their life upside down. With the belief that their home is haunted, they desperately moved into another home just to find that the evil spirits are still following them. They soon learn that the evil spirits wanted something from them. The evils spirits have learned they could once again experience life through the possession of certain gifted body.

Insidious. Dir. James Van. Perf. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin

   Shaye, Barara Hershey and Leigh Whannell. Film District, 2011. Film.

Insidious Image. Insidious. 2011. broadwayworld.com. Web. 27 Mar 2013.

   <http://images.bwwstatic.com/upload10/436030/insidious.jpg>.