There’s a family move to a new house, but as it turns out, the Lamberts’ problems don’t stay at the old residence. There’s a little issue with their son, Dalton. He’s not in a coma, he’s a body without a spirit, thanks to a little problem Dalton has with astral projection. Fortunately, grandma, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), has had some experience with this sort of thing and she knows just who to call. Will the Lamberts save their son from the lipstick-faced demon (Joseph Bishara)? It’s obvious that James Wan and Leigh Whannell have been watching a lot of 70s haunted house movies in the preparation to make Insidious, because they crib pretty much every positive aspect they can from those films. The tension built up in the opening forty-five minutes is very thick, and the scares are varied. Even though a lot of them are expected, there are still a lot of unexpected moments and a whole lot of dread-filled camera movements through empty rooms that really ratcheted up the tension. The film’s scare plan is also well-done, with some very subtle flashes paired with overt ‘we’re trying to scare you!’ moments throughout the film’s opening half. Even after the supernatural elements are officially introduced and we see the black-skinned fire-faced man with holes for eyes, Insidious continues to crib some of the more interesting aspects of the 70s for its set pieces. The astral plane version of the Lambert household is concealed by endless fog, and the inside of the house looks like some kind of Coffin Joe fever dream filtered through the high camp lens of Dr. Phibes. The associate fiends that make up the bulk of the denizens of the Further were also very well done, with special notice going to the long-haired fiend (J. LaRose) that provides the bulk of the movie’s early scares. The movie’s middle section has some tension-relieving comic relief, including a particularly memorable sequence involving two bumbling ghost hunters (played by Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson), but once Elise (Lin Shaye) shows up and starts communing with the spirits and taking on this film’s Zelda Rubinstein role, the comic relief goes away and the serious supernatural events start. Still, the second half of the film isn’t as good as the first, though I liked some of the touches involved in the less reality-based half of the film. It’s not that the trip to the Further is bad, it’s just not as good as the haunted house portions of the movie. It feels strange to say it, but I quite enjoyed Insidious. As a haunted house movie, it was a pretty good one. As a supernatural horror, it was less successful, but still quite a bit of fun. Wan and Whannell were very important in launching the torture porn genre. It remains to be seen if they can give the same boost to the haunted house genre. US Correspondent Ron Hogan is looking for a house, and he would prefer one without infestations, demonic or otherwise. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.