SCORETOBER!!!!! Day 21 INSIDIOUS!!!

Day 21

INSIDIOUS

I remember chatting with friends while we waited for our game to finish updating, and two of them were discussing movies they’d seen recently. One of them brought up Insidious, when he was asked about it, he chuckle and said “Imagine something scary happens? But instead of a WHA jump scare sound. You just drop a handful of nails over a violin. For two hours.”, I mean. He’s kinda not wrong about the music. But as the two laughed I did have to mention the movie almost made 100 million. Also the soundtrack was something I really appreciated and I don’t know of many films where the composer gets picked as ‘the’ perfect person to play a demon.

So I mean, yeah. Insidious!

A film not made for those wanting a quiet experience. The music in this film with rip your ears off while yanking your face over to the demon while it screams right into your mouth. I also mean that, as a deep compliment.

I really give odd compliments, I know.

This is a series I’d always wanted to talk more about, but really only ever talked about the first two when discussing sequels that lived up to or surpassed the originals. So I’m happy to revisit it again and talk about both the music and the series as a whole.

So put down the ukulele, turn down the Tiny Tim music, and let’s get comfy.

The Movie.

I really do like the opening credits of the film. There are some moments you can pickup on ghost shapes, and faces either in the background, the shadows, or even larger scale in the windows. It’s a fun effect and a nice touch of what’s to come, even though you still don’t entirely know what is to come. Which is part of why the movie is a fun watch.

So once we’ve marked out way through the credits, it’s time for the least popular moment in anyones life over the age of 26, waking up and getting your ‘responsible’ ass out of bed. You think it sucks now, wait till your 40. It doesn’t get any easier.

Especially when your idea of waking up ass early, and I do mean ass early, just to start unpacking. I mean. Yeah you are being responsible, but damn. Give yourself some morning meditation time. NO I don’t mean jerk one out, I mean the time you give yourself after eating where you sigh, relax. Close your eyes and think about your life and how much this very moment sucks so badly, and it’s just the start of your day.

Welcome to parenthood!

Which this movie is full of and in both a wonderfully chaotic way that might make some of you look forward to a house full of kids, and serve as the best kind of birth control for the rest of us. We are meeting our family as the house begins waking up. We have our responsible mother Renai Lambert(Rose Byrne) doing the early wake up and start on her job as mom. We got the two boys Dalton(Ty Simpkins) and Foster(Andrew Astor) enjoying a nice breakfast of pour your own cereal, as Mom cradles newly born baby sister Kali.

And what of their dad? Well Josh Lambert(Patrick Wilson) Is busy manscaping his balls in the bathroom. Or I guess just shaving. But its still not a bad idea. You never know where the night may take you.

But dad has no time for Breakfast. His breakfast was the colgate he chewed on while brushing his teeth hurrying to get to his job as a teacher. Leaving mom to deal with paying bills on the phone and do some more unpacking. So when dad comes home late? Mama needs him to earn some good boy points otherwise she will begin a list of his chores this weekend. I promise you, that list is forming in her head regardless.

But for the time, the family is relaxing and getting used to their new surroundings. Dad is playing with baby Kali as mom watches and Foster sits nearby. Dalton however is exploring. Because he’s bored, it’s a new house, and there are rooms that need discovering, and most of us at that age hope to stumble onto a framed pirates treasure map in the attic and go after One-eyed Willies gold.

So naturally this is why Dalton has found himself wondering into the families new attic space. He’s curious about some of the packed boxes and getting his toys out for his room. Which I mean, who wouldn’t be wanting to get their stuff ready for their room so no one forgets it, or your brother claims it.

Well, what do you get when you combine a young kid, an attic, slipper socks and a ladder with no adult supervision? You get to usually watch a safety video for an hour at work detailing what you did wrong and not to do it again before returning to work, upsetting your boss in the process because ‘there’s a lot of shit to do, we’re already short handed, so hurry with the video and get moving once your down here.”

Before you can push play on the OSHA tape. Dalton tumbles off the ladder and hits the floor. Thankfully kids back then took a lot to break as the harshness of aging hasn’t ravaged them, so a fall that would’ve taken us 5 months to recover from, is only a moments regret for Dalton.

However what isn’t a moment of regret, but a lifetime of therapy. Is when Dalton hears what sounds like popping bones, or tiny tree twigs being snapped, he looks over and something is watching him, and moving toward him. With that he screams out, finally alerting mom and dad that their child is unwatched, alone in the house, and requires possible medical assistance.  And a therapist. Thankfully none of that is currently needed. Though I honestly would still be concerned. Though they find him and discover he seems okay, just a bit spooked after his fall, I’d be worried if he fell and hit his head, then went off to sleep. Usually that’s a recipe for no no bad sleep. But he seems pretty chill for the moment, and glad to be amongst the living so. Good on you Dalton Lambert.

His parents send him off to bed, all tucked in and ignorant of the terrors he may have seen earlier. As morning approaches and a new day begins. Everyone is ready for the weekend, mom and dad even had an almost fun time in the bedroom that night so there IS a chance for dad possibly as the day progresses, unless he manages to screw things up.

Spoilers. He doesn’t screw anything up.

But there is some cockblockery afoot of an unexplained kind. Remember what I said about hitting your head and going to sleep? Well Dad is off trying to wake Dyaln up for breakfast. But Dalton is not up yet. So Dad wonders into his room and begins the traditional grab a foot and shake approach. Still nothing. So he attempts the hug a shoulder and lightly wiggle wake method. While also calling out to him. Nothing still!

So Dad throws caution to the wind and begins shaking Dylon like a British Nanny and screaming his name. It is now an appropriate time to contact the emergency services and request medical assistance.

Which, they do.

We quickly discover that Dalton is fine, he is however, in a coma. As to when he will recover? No one can say. What caused it? They are unsure. Though the fall could be a possible indicator. All we now know, is Dalton will require constant care, So they bring him home and turn his room into a bit of a medical station. Mom becomes an expert in his care, the machines required to help monitor him, his diet and all routines. Dad is dealing with things in his own way and everyone in general is trying now to live their lives moving forward. Moving 3 months forward in fact.

Mom, is not having a fun time of it on her own at home. She has a baby girl that needs her attention, and her comatose son, on top of taking care of the house and family. A womans work is truly never done, and often under appreciated. What also is under appreciated are how helpful baby monitors can be when you are experiencing hauntings. As mom was practicing on her piano, she heard what sounded like voices whispering, talking to themselves through the baby monitor. The most we can make out is what sounds like a voice repeating “I want it, I want it, I want it NOW!”, as she hears a very clear and loud ‘now’ she heads off for her babies room. Only to discover no one there and no spooky shapes about either. Needless to say this makes her day a bit less fun as you can imagine. She brings it up that evening to her husband who, basically feels its nothing, It could be something, but its likely nothing, maybe she heard something, maybe its her period, anything but spooky scary skeletons. Just then however, they hear their baby begin crying on the monitor, so mama decides she’ll get up and investigate, maybe the baby will hear her out and not dismiss it.

However as she enters the nursery, Bagul is staring out the window back at her. It’s not but its close. It’s a very pale faced figure in a black suit with pale hands standing, staring from the bedroom window. The composer slaps his violin like a chimpanzee attempting cotton eye joe and we have a jumpscare! Dad is up and ready to defend the homestead, searching their babies room for an intruder but finding no one. Just then the house alarm goes off and everyones ears are a little less comfortable as Josh the dad races down stairs. Checking the door finding no one there, and silencing the alarm.

Apparently whoever set off the alarm wanted it back on, so off it goes once more! Josh doesn’t know what to make of this, obviously it must be some sort of bug, or the government is to blame. THANKS Obama!

Things are less than normal around this house, as you can guess. Not only with voices on baby monitors fighting over wanting things, and not just with Bagul hanging outside their window. But life in general. The only person seeming to care and listen to Renai, is their nurse they hired to help take care of Dalton. Meanwhile dad is spending more and more time away from home. Staying late at school and always coming home around 10:30  or 11 at night. Which of course goes noticed, believe me.

Well as Renai tries to handle things, she’s finding she has no idea how to handle them, especially on her own. Which I don’t blame her, it’s not easy and she’s dealing with a lot. She needs support and when you get married, you become that support. So as she helps to fix their sons bed sheets, she notices something very alarming. Something actually pretty creepy and worrying. She finds a very elongated bloody handprint on the foot of their sons bed. But is it blood? Or lipstick. They never really specify it’s just…a red marking and its creepy as hell.

So she calls up Daddy at work and he drives home at his own pace. Which is again not a good idea if you are hoping to win some points. As he arrives, she puts aside talking about their son, so she can point out to him the time again, and how he’s stayed out late the past 10 days. He never used to do that, and especially when they both were working at the school. His answer is to simply tell her he’s dealing with things his own way, same as she is. She’s willing to forget that for now, because she just wants him to listen to her and not write her off. She is worried for their son. Not medically, not mentally. But worried for his safety and their own in that house. The house scares her, the things happening there scare her and she doesn’t feel safe. She feels alone. He passively listens and tells her he’ll handle it and take care of things but once again he is missing the point and she’s done for the evening. Tossing the bedsheets at him and telling him to deal with that as she heads off to bed. He looks over the sheets and discovers the hand print.

He's unsure how to process this, but one thing he absolutely needs no help with processing. Is the reality that his ass is sleeping downstairs on the couch, and he better not try for the bedroom until he’s earned that right back.

As Renai enjoys the comfort of a large bed all to herself, free of her husbands flatulence, she finds herself waking from a bad dream. Startled and worried once more. As she tries to sooth herself however, she is immediately shocked back into the reality that this house is a bad place, and her life is a lot less glittery, as she spots a figure pacing outside her bedroom window on the second floor of the house. The figure casting a shadow from outside. Pacing back and forth, she calls out quietly to her husband even though he’s downstairs. Afraid to raise her voice and have this person hear her. She tries several more times as the figure continues to pace. Until at last when the figure vanishes, it reappears no longer outside, but inside the room and pacing beside her. Only to stop mid pace, look directly at her and screech as it lunges for her and she lets out a scared fart before crashing to the floor screaming.

Now THAT her husband heard, and he is running up those steps barking like a watch dog, entering their room she points repeatedly to the window telling him someone was inside their room and outside the window. She dares him to call her crazy and not believe her. Having been given the couch treatment already Josh is not about to dig his hole any deeper. He believes his scared shitless wife and just like that, as only in Hollywood can it happen. The family has sold their home and moved to another one.

If only, right?

So now after 3 months of moving and getting settled into their home, the family is. Moving and, getting settled into their home. This time though Mom has some help. She’s got Lorraine Lambert(Barbara Hershey) helping her with unpacking. Her husbands mom, helping the new mom. Moms helping moms, it’s a great support system and sometimes under appreciated. Lorraine seems happy though that the family is doing okay with the move given what they’ve been through already. Though she finds herself somewhat distracted as she unpacks a photo of the family together and instead of smiling seeing her son in the photo. She stares almost bewildered and even makes the comment that she can’t believe Renai got him to be in a photo. Which Renai ignores because, she needs help talking about her problems, not photography.

As Josh’s mom leaves with a bewildered look still going on about the photograph. Mom is turning up the speakers and putting on her best mom’s jam music, classical music. She’s such a piano nerd she can’t chill out and relax with anything fun. Apparently. So she’s going to take out the trash and begin cleaning up some of the empty boxes. What. I ask you. What could possibly go wrong.

Aside a lot, there’s a lot more going on than I had caught when I saw this in theaters and subsequent viewings at home. Another one of those ‘how did I miss it’ things. As mom goes about the house gathering bags of trash to be taken out. She passes the laundry room and as she does. There by the left side of the wall, is a small child. Wearing a newsies cap and tweed jacket, facing the wall.  It’s creepy as shit once you notice the little bugger. Especially knowing he’s going to pop up again. As Renai pops outside and tosses the trash out. Creepy boy has decided her taste in music needs to change. He can’t get down with this classical crap. He needs some old time folk, Americana music. So the record scratches and suddenly, we are jamming to the lit track Tiptoe through the tulips, by Tiny mother trucking Tim.

Apparently spirits and demons enjoy his music. His presence is missed on this world.

Immediately Renai is ready to throw down. You don’t touch a mom’s alone at home record player, you just don’t do it. As she looks into the house, ready to glare and judge the record changer to another dimension. She realizes that particular kid may already be from another dimension. As she watches him begin to dance happily to Tiny Tim and his tasty groove.

She’s not freaked out though. More caught up in a what the fuck am I looking at moment, more than anything. She see’s the boy take off in her home, and rushes inside the house after them. Only to find herself now in an unwillingly joined game of hide and seek. Only mama don’t play around. She’s grabbing something in case she needs to jab, poke, stab, slap, high stook, hook, or check someone into the wall on their way out of her house. Only. She can’t find anyone. Which is frustrating when you are stuck between not wanting to find anyone, but also really wanting to find someone so you can smack them.

But luck of the irish be with her! She spots a pair of shoes poking out of her kids clothes closet. So it’s poking time! As mom pokes with the fury of a frustrated mom needing a satisfying poke, she finds no creepy kid attached to those shoes. Which relieves her, that is until the creepy kid comes out of his hiding spot directly above the shoe shelf of the clothes closet and giggles running past her.

With that she has officially lost her shit, and lets out a splattery scared fart that could’ve come from either the front or the back. No one knows, and no one wants to find out later. All we know is, they are going to have to buy another house and move. AGAIN!!

I know that’s a little harsh on mama, but seriously. Their solution was to move from their old house to a new house, and now that this ones haunted they’re gonna do it again. Like people who don’t learn not to play free to play games unless you want viruses, and instead of learning to deal with those viruses and stop, they just buy a new computer every time the old one gets infected.

You KNOW the people I am talking about.

Any-way….

Daddy Lambert is home and ready to unbuckle his pants and relax his intestines. But he finds his wife talking to a priest and instantly knows he is not going to like the next conversation. To add to this, he then see’s his mother coming out of their kitchen with a tea tray and biscuits. The tea is always appreciated, but what the sam hell is mom doing here?! She can’t have the grand kids talk with him, she’s got 3 of those pulled out of Renai.

Well the two moms put their mom energy together and determined that, once you have a creepy kid dancing in your house, it’s time to consult a priest. Which granted is cheaper than you know, a third home. But still. So he sits down for what will be a needed chat with his mom, and hopefully not end with a lesson about being a better listener.

For now he has to listen to his mom, as she tells him about a dream she had last night. She had a dream about Dalton, and their home. She saw herself traveling down the hallway to Daltons room. She saw him there with his machined hooked up to him, sleeping, and in the corner of the room stood a dark figure, with bone cracking noises each move it makes, the same one that Dalton saw earlier. She asked who they are and it told her, a visitor. She asked it what it wanted, and it pointed out to Dalton on the bed. She shakily tells them she can still hear that beings voice. As she ends her story she again hears that crackling sound. Looking up from the table she see’s as we do, the visitors face for the first time as it hides itself behind Josh in his chair. A black bodied man with a deep red face and wide terrifying eyes.  The visitor hisses out at them and both moms jump back startled from the table. Just then the family hears a loud noise followed by a crash coming from Dalton’s room. They all rush over and shove the door open, finding the entire room trashes. Red elongated finger prints over torn clothe and the windows baring claw marks. Dalton nowhere to be seen. The family panics and searches calling out to him. Finding their son still in a coma, and huddled in a corner among the shredded sheets and curtains.

Lorraine is not messing around anymore. She’s calling the only person she knows that can help.

Which! Leads us to both the fun of the movie, and unfortunately the not so fun of the series.

Enter Tucker, and Specs. Two specialist who assist a medium with ghost encounters, demons and other underworld nasties. But before they pull out the big gun they work for. Tucker(Angus Sampson) and Specs(Leigh Whannell) go to investigate the home, a way of weeding out the crazies and people with pipe problems in the house.

The two begin a fun banter and they actually are pretty likeable characters. Silly and needed relief honestly. They begin checking the house, questioning the family, while Tucker wonders through the house using his home made equipment. Both listening for anything out of the ordinary, and using a spectral visor to try and spot and spooky ghost doing ghost stuff. As he’s cycling through different filters, which yes for ghost photography you need infrared and to remove the UV filter on your camera to capture full spectrum photos in hopes of spotting them. He manages after several empty attempts, to finally spot not one. But two creepy as hell, creepily smiling ghost ladies. Which rightfully cause him to pucker his butthole and back track into the room with all the people still living, instantly relieving him. “We can call Elise.”

And with that, we bring in the spirited, happy to help medium, Elise Rainier, played by the truly charming and wonderful Lin Shaye. She has a plethora of great films under her belt including horror and she’s a joy to see on screen, always.

However…

She is also the one thing that I feel sidelined this series later on. Don’t get me wrong, I love the character, and the actress. I do. But when that person becomes such a focus that other interesting, and even creepier ideas get pushed aside. Well. It didn’t do well for the series. But we all still hold out hopes. I’ll explain later.

For now, she is here to examine the house herself, leading to another great scene I love from this film. The first and second act of the movie really play out like a great almost Poltergeist like film and she really nails the part of the helpful medium well. The scene I’m talking about comes as she wonders through the house and into Dalton’s bedroom, instructing Specs to leave the light off and quickly join her with the sketch book. He tries to quickly explain to Renai and us as well, that he tries to draw as quickly as he can whatever it is Elise see’s that we ourselves can’t. She truly looks terrified and glued in place. She’s speaking quickly and in near whispers as Specs tries hurriedly to keep up with her. Renai doesn’t like being ignored when repeatedly asked what it is the woman sees in her sons bedroom, especially when its directly above him and clinging to the ceiling. So she races over and grabs the book from Specs. Only to be greeted with what they saw and were told by Josh’s mom, the visitor. A figure with black arms, black legs and a red face. Renai has a moment of ‘moms can defeat anything’ and rushes to turn the lights on, only to see for herself that there is nothing there at the top of the ceiling above her sons bed.

With this information now jotted down and documented, Elise gathers everyone together to begin explaining what exactly has happened and what may yet still happen.

Their son Dalton, is not in a coma. He has the ability, some of us have or had experienced, called astral projection. Where you’re able to move about in a dream like scape, away from your own body. She explains that Dalton, is a very gifted Projector and is able to do so at any time with little effort. But for him, the things he sees, and seeing his family sleeping, floating around the house, it’s all imaginary to him, as are the ‘other’ things he may see. While he was doing so, leaving his body behind. The traveler got to him and is now keeping him from Dalton’s body. The other beings they’ve been seeing. The Bagul face outside their nursery. The man that was pacing outside their bedroom, the two girls in the hallway. They are all malevolent beings. Ghost drawn to Daltons body, as without his soul inside, remains an empty vessel. But the biggest threat, the one that took Dalton away in the first place, the Visitor?, The visitor is not a malevolent spirit. It’s a demon, and with Dalton not in his body, he can possess his body, which is what it wants. But it needs to find his body first. .

It's a turn the film takes I really appreciated and was a genuine twist I felt. It was looking like a traditional spooky haunted ghost story, but now it’s got demon possession added into it and there are legitimate stakes involved now. Its one thing to have ghost you gotta deal with. But knowing the ghost are competing with a demon, all intent on taking over Dalton. That’s some heavy shit.

It’s so heavy in fact, that Josh is noping out. He tells everyone to get out of his house, checks in the mail. Goodbye and thanks for the fish.

Of course this upsets his wife, and she accuses him of not taking her side, of not caring. Josh has a rather deserved and appropriately labeled “Bitch are you for real?” moment. He stares at her with just that phrase in mind and tells her “I moved houses for you, I’m on your side! But this? This is dangerous and exploitative.” He feels this is a dog and pony show, something these people will milk them for and promise will help them get their son back, all for a few hundred dollars, so out the door he sends them.

He's not winning any points, and all he can really do is spend time with Dalton as he sleeps in his coma. He talks to him asking his son to please send them a sign that he’s out there, let him know he’s okay, some sign of life. And he manages. A single picture from his wall falls down, and the dad finally takes notice of his sons life. Realizing the drawings he put up all over his walls. Detailed exactly what Elise was talking about. There’s photos detailing his astrol projecting, meeting the visitor, flying above his bed. Josh feels like an ass and tells his wife okay, call Elise up and lets light this candle.

It's time to get spooky people. We are gearing up for the oddest, spookiest spirit channeling ever, and I do mean ever. Just more reason to love this film and the vibe it creates.

Elise and her people are setting up flashbulb cameras, motion censor activated cameras, and the weirdest but coolest of inventions. A converted gas mask Elise wears, with the oxygen tube extended and turned into a headphone set that Specs wears, and uses to transcribe what Elise whispers and communicates through her channeling. It’s time to reach out and talk to Dalton.

As they begin channeling and reaching out. Sure enough the cameras begin firing off flashbulbs, signaling movement in the room around the seated family in Daltons room. Dalton is talking to them through Elise. As Specs speaks aloud to the group, he’s also transcribing by hand into the notebook all that is being said from both parties. Elise is asking Dalton to talk to them, asking him if he is safe, where is he. Dalton is able to answer back asking who’s there. She tells them its his mom and dad, they are worried and looking for him. “I need help, I can’t see in here”, Dalton tells them hurridly through Elise, She tells Dalton to follow her voice, to come back to them. But he doesn’t respond. Things go quiet a long while. Elise ask why aren’t you talking anymore.

“If they hear me, they’ll hurt me.” They all turn looking to one another, then back to Elise as she stays perfectly still. Still channeling, asking immediately who will hurt him, and of course it can only be one figure. “The man with fire on his face.”  She again tries telling Dalton to follow her voice, they can bring him back if he follows her voice. Dalton again tells them to be quiet, they’ll hear you. She again pleads with Dalton, assuring him they won’t hear him, just follow her voice. But she isn’t understanding fully. Sure they won’t hear Dalton. But they hear Elise, and they aren’t happy. “Oh no, oh god. Mommy, Daddy, They are coming, they heard you. Help me! Help me mom and dad, please save me. Please come and get me” and again silence from Dalton. Nothing for a long quiet pause, and then Suddenly Elise goes stiff as if being choked and shocked at the same time. Spec’s is struggling to write as fast as he can, the paper taring as he does and a much more worrying text response is given to the group. Most definitely not from Dalton, “Listen to me your filthy whore he isn’t here, you should not have come here you fucking bitch. I will rip your cunt apart and eat the fucking innards that spill forth from it. I have seen you I know who you are but you and the-“ aand with that it is fighting time baby! Spirits are not happy. Dalton is being manipulated! Dalton is out of his bed and attacking the group with unnatural strength. Tossing everyone back from their tiny table. The camera are going ape shit with ghost appearing and vanishing at different points. It’s an epileptic nightmare of pandemonium!

But Elise is a tough woman and she tells the demon “Not today you sum bitch” she goes full Steve Austin cracking open two beers and chugging them, flipping the bird to Dalton and delivering a stone cold stunner.

Or not. Fine. What actually happens is everyone is freaked the hell out, Dad and Spec’s gets tossed around the room. The pacing ghost tongues Mama Lambert’s cheek and while Elise slaps a hand to Dalton and commands the demon to leave Daltons body. It’s a hell of a struggle but eventually good triumphs. Unfortunately though with all the tech around the room. All of spec’s cameras caught nothing.

But Tucker swoops in with the save, his camera, going frame by frame. He was able to capture a clear and scary as hell photo of the demon ‘visitor’ It’s even creepier looking in the damn still photo.

The group is defeated, but ready for their final battle phase. Elise has one more card up her sleeve and Josh is going to have to take a deep breath for this one. They bring his mama into the mix once more, confusing him slightly. Until all becomes clear, whether he wants it to or not.

Many years ago, during his adolescence. Josh hated having his picture taken. His mom began noticing in pictures she’d take of him that a strange figure would appear in the photos lingering in the background. A woman in a black veil and dress. Some of these photos, are believable and could definitely be freaky.

Some of the other photos…well even reddit would say you did a poor photoshop. Its not exactly subtle the ghost lady appearing in his photos, but it works. It’s all leading to the mom having no choice but to contact Elise and having her help Josh. Because he, like Dalton was an extreme astral projectionist. It’s where Dalton got his gift from.

She’s telling him all of this because his mom had her try and block the memories from him, in the hopes he wouldn’t remember as he grew older. Thinking this also might erase the memories of that witchy looking dead lady. But now he needs to know, because he’s the only dream warrior this family has. He needs to be placed under hypnosis, made to sleep and astral project himself, to save his son. Small order I know.

He agrees, I mean he knows how it’d look if he doesn’t. It doesn’t matter how many houses you buy and how many times you move, if you don’t put your soul at risk in the spirit world for your boy, there’s no getting any good boy points for a long, long time.

So without the aid of a montage preparing for his awesome adventure. Josh slams himself into the chair and says lets do this.

With that, he finds himself in ‘the further’, the spirit like dream world Dalton is kept in. It’s a mirror of our own world, just a lot more muted in color and spooky with fog. He roams through the further and discovers a place resembling their home. Only the place is super infected with ghosty goos and bad not so good spirits, all smiling as creepily as possible, and reinacting whatever horrors placed them there. It’s pretty creepy honestly and I’m glad the movie went there, even if at times it might look a bit over the top, that’s kind of the point.

He DOES get something of a Steve Austin moment though that ISN”T just my embellishments. He encounters the spooky guy who was licking his wifes face and the two square off, directly outside a bright red door in a very dark  room. Just like one of the pictures his son had drawn. He struggles to fight the evil makeout spirit but its proving too strong. Until Elise tells him he arrived in that world with cheat codes and his strength is over 9000. So with that info in mind, Josh yeets the spirit out of the further and into the never ever. Kicking in the red door like a John Wayne badass and carrying a 2x4 like Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

The red door, led to a red hall, with red rooms, and its incredibly red. If you didn’t already know. This isn’t a ghost house, this is the demons penthouse in the further.

Josh goes tiptoeing through the tulips of hell searching every corner of the red home until at last he comes across a large open room, with a chained Dalton cowering on the floor. Josh rushes over and immediately begins doing what he can to unchain his son, who is totes happy to see his dad, but also scared shitless because his dad hasn’t checked the room before entering and loudly talking. Dalton points upward behind his dad, and for once we get to see something spooky. Yes I’m joking! This movie has had some actually good spooky moments, only this time we are getting our first full on and real shots of the demon, in all his furry hooved leg glory. It’s official. Tiny Tim is the music of demons, not Rock and Roll, but majestic male vocals and the regal ukulele.

The demon is busy sharpening its metallic claws on sharpening stones, jamming to Tiny Tim as its little puppets dance awkwardly on their strings. It’s actually kinda fun and creepy. Soon enough as Josh free’s his boy though. The demon spots them and our films composter finds himself entering the spiritual ring of the Further spirit Wrestling. It’s a chase through hell house for the father and son as they do their best trying to get through the further, away from the over crowding spirits. The demon had wanted Daltons body all to himself so he kept him close, away from the other spirits. But now that Dalton is out of his home, the other spirits are aware of him and the Body 4 Rent sign is once again on the open market.

Dalton and Dad are separated and both racing home. Dalton having to deal with a demon on his ass chasing him through the further and the spirit version of his own home. He is tired of this shit and he wants to go home. Back to his body to a catheter free life with Chinese food and pasta. So he gives it his all and rushes to his body.

Dad however is taking in the sights and touring the house apparently deciding now is a good time to finally work on the rickety drawer his wife asked him to fix a week ago. He also may have had a run in with the black dressed lady from his childhood and that’s mildly traumatic. So he decides to have an empowering “I’m not afraid of you, I know time is of the essence, and possibly spirits are crossing over into our world, but I’m gonna face you down since I just remembered you and tell you I have an awesome life, awesome wife and mortage payments on two properties.” The lady in black chuckles and races off while the dad confusingly yells at himself in the mirror.

But Dalton is back! So yay for that, mission accomplished. Now how about Josh.

Josh is, having a moment. His wife is having a, how to put it. She’s acting like the Dad in Poltergeist. When he’s told not to pull on the rope, so he begins tugging on the rope. Only she’s told they can’t wake her hubby. He has to find his way back to his body on his own before they can wake him. Well the house is kind of shaking because of the spiritual presence and an angry red fire faced demon not wanting to lose his vessel. So Mama has gone from “Don’t wake your husband”, to slapping the shit out of him and shaking him like a british nanny on holiday.

Eventually, and much to the pleasure of all, and relief of Josh not having to have the soul slapped out of him. He is back amongst the living.

But much like Poltergeist, we have just enough time to watch the family bond, and a kid devour pasta like it’s going out of style. Which I can’t fault him for as Pasta is rather amazingly delicious be it Italian or Chinese.

But Elise is not entirely chill with things. Even though everyone is back, everyone is happy. She isn’t too sure about Josh. He seems a little off, a little, not so himself, possibily a little more feminine than he was earlier. Which is perfectly fine, usually. Not so much though when its potentially a ghost.

So Elise plays Paparazzi and snaps a picture of him real quick. This upsets Josh and sends him into a rather unhealthy rage. Well less rage and more murderous rampage. Well less murderous rampage and more of an “I’m gonna choke the shit out of you” hissy fit. That works.

So Elise is dead.

And people are not to pleased with this sudden development. Especially Renai. Who discovers Elise’s body, and the camera held in a death grip in her hand with a photo of her husband in a black dress. Which then ends the film with her husband putting a hand on her shoulder asking her what’s wrong and her turning around looking like she just ruined her leggings for good.

INSIDIOUS!!!!!! AH!!!

The End

This movie, will always remain in my top films, it’s not perfect. It kind of goes off the rails insane by the third act. But I like it a lot. The first two acts of the film are just great. It sets up a creepy premise and keeps you guessing until it’s spelt out for you as to who is after Dalton and why, what’s happened to him, the channeling scene is still scary. It’s just an all around great film. The sequel followed up directly where this one left off and they didn’t shy away from any of the choices, nothing was retconned and they handled it all very well, while also tying in events that took place during the original. It’s really great. The third film was scary as all hell. It went in a different direction after the 2nd, but it was scary as all get out, and has some moments that still genuinely get me. The only thing that was disappointing, was that the films began to go into prequel territory. Because Elise is a popular character, people liked her. So they decided to go back so she’s among the living and give us some of her earlier ghost adventures. Which, save for the last Insidious film that one was, really. It was okay.

A lot of fans though, myself included. Have been waiting, and felt shelved by the creators because they teased something that really could be frightening and a genuine hell of a ride for the series. They teased twice that Elise, would meet up with the red faced demon. Only this time, she’s in the spirit world herself and he may just be the one with far more power than her.

I would lose my mind if they finally gave us that film and showed us these two squaring off. I’d enjoy it a lot more than if they went down the prequel path and decided these two need a backstory and previous encounters. I’m not saying it wouldn’t work, but I am saying there are in existence as I type this, two versions of an Exorcist prequel that both setup the priest from the first film having fought the same devil he faced in The Exorcist, and neither version is something any of the fans want to admit exist.

Now on to the reason this film is being talked about by me once again!

The Music.

Whether or not you approve of the movie. The music, has its fans and detractors as well. For a lot of us. It was pretty intense and insane. Also insanely LOUD the first time we heard it in theaters. The title track is just, well. Like my friend described with nails being dropped onto a violin, but with more than that behind it.

The reason some didn’t care for the very loud, hectic and chaotic music, was mostly because it was what they claim brought about the change in horror scores. We began seeing more and more films like this. Loud erratic slices of music cut across strings at high pitches.

For me it’s beautiful. The composer ushered in an era of horror scores that all carried his unique tone and made the films that much scarier, deep in character, and I almost wish he had scored The Color out of Space. Which is a perfect score all its own.

The man did the music for all the Insidious films, all the Conjuring and subsequently the films within the conjuring universe. He brought us the music that many of this generations horror fans will have grown up with, and that’s awesome for me. It’s like growing up in the age of Carpenter, which is now seeing somewhat of a resurgence. The man also worked with Carpenter as well.

But his score for Insidious. It’s truly something else. It was for me the first time I heard a scary, supernatural score, that raised the hairs on your arms, and did actually have a frantic unexplained behavior to it that really mirrors the spirits, demon, and characters within.

I still believe the track “He’s looking at us” is something you can play for kids in a dark room you lock the door too and they will absolutely end up crying and pounding away at the door for freedom. As a side note, don’t be that babysitter who locks kids up, you’re a dick.

“They’re coming through” is pure madness dancing a waltz on razor wire, and I love it. It’s like hells symphony playing across tendons strung over instruments. There’s just no safety in any moment of that score and you are at the mercy of the composer. Who just happens to be a lipstick demon that is absolutely eating this up.

Joseph Bishara just managed to tap into the horror of supernatural reality and gave that unidentifiable color a sound that just sticks with you. Love it or hate it, you aren’t getting rid of it any time soon. Especially when he was able to master that sound and bring it into other feature horror films that just became part of what feels like the worlds longest play.

Even if its creepy as all hell I really enjoy listening to “Dark Boundaries crossed”, play that for a haunted house and you’ll need a mop. You know why too.

But something I feel oddly, I don’t know how else to say it but. Appreciative of. Is a track that almost feels like a melting symphony. Something that feels like a slow possession of an orchestra one member at a time as they are warming up and suddenly begin playing an opera for the devil. It’s called “Void Figure 7”, it’s just unlike anything I’d heard before and when I went through the album a few years back. It was a huge surprise hearing. I actually thought it was a bonus track initially. Or hell for all I know maybe they were possessed during the recording session and it got included in the mix. For reasons.

Though, and I do stress this. It’s not all nightmares and dreamscapes on the soundtrack. There are some real beautiful pieces in here that aren’t streaked in blood and madness. Things like “Into the Lair” which has an feeling that almost feels like it could work in a rescoring of The THING, There’s some very beautiful piano work done on “Broken Open”, It’s actually a track I used for inspiration with trying to score the second chapter in the Deep Sea Anthology. It’s honestly a very beautiful piece. It’s reserved, gentle but with something lurking beneath the surface, just not yet breaking through. It really carries what felt like the weight of the family and all they were getting into and went through.

But something really cool, I only caught bits and pieces of during the movie because there was just so much going on. During the channeling sequence, there’s a track playing through it, “Gas Mask Vision”, it sounds like something from a late 80’s intense thriller. It has some great synth work in there and carries an almost Carpenter like vibe. In the movie you only pick up some of the really more, bass heavy notes, but on its own. It’s just a blissful synth piece.

The whole score is a treat. It has a mood unlike others and definitely marks the beginning of an era in horror that was really needed. It’s beautifully horrifying, chaotically designed perfected madness. I mean you listen to “Muted Whispers” and tell me that isn’t the voice of madness greeting you.

Joseph Bishara is a wonderful composer, all of his scores are uniquely their own and powerful experiences. I can’t recommend them or hype them enough honestly. Please do pick them up. I promise you’ll never hear anything like it. Even your cat nuzzling against your electric violin won’t come close to this. Seriously its not just random noise. It’s beautiful, and I could not get enough of it.

Please check out the movie, the series. It’s worth it, and the music alone is worthy of a purchase digitally or on vinyl. You’d be doing yourself a favor getting it.

So until tomorrow and our decent into our two films. If you hear cracking branches and its dark in your room. Just burn the place down, call a priest in the morning and find Jesus, you do not want to deal with anything in that house, lipstick goat legged music composer or not. Sure they’d be fun to hang out with. But he will take your soul, and houses are super easier to move from versus bodies. Trust me, I know.