31 Days of Drafts and Darkness:

"Insidious" (2010)

James Wann is a writer/direction who made his horror introduction with a grisly little film called "Saw". Nowadays, mention of "Saw" most often brings up the topic of 'torture porn', a new version of exploitation film that shocks its audience by keeping its victims alive while all the bloodletting occurs. As much a horror fan as I am, I'm not big into this sub-genre. While I understand the concept of taking exploitation horror to the next level, there's some areas I feel it's just distasteful to cross into. 

What's interesting is that "Saw", the first entry in the series, really only features brief gore. Much of the nasty scenes are left to the imagination. It's the concept of the film - maiming yourself in order to survive - that hits the visceral cord with folks. Subsequent entries in the series get progressively more icky, but the original's  more about psychological fear than it is blood and guts.

Though Mr. Wann continued acting as producer to the "Saw" sequels, his directing ventured down a different horror avenue. His later work illustrates that he's a writer and filmmaker far more interested in the classic scary elements - dread and atmosphere - over cheap gore and gimmick.

Tonight's entry is a perfect illustration of that. Let's check out "Insidious"

The Plot:

We open on your picturesque American family.  Moving into a beautiful new home, the gang reflects on their good fortune and are all smiles as they carry boxes down dusty hallways. One of the young sons notices an odd ladder up to the antic. Surely nothing could be off about that creaky old place?

Before long, the house beings to reveal paranormal elements. Along with the usual array of odd noises and creaky floors, the youngest son suffers an accident after exploring the antic. This ordeal leaves him in a coma. Doctors are perplexed, not knowing what's caused his condition. Fearing ghostly-influence, the couple does what so, so, so, sooooo many families have overlooked in past scary movies: if you're living in a haunted house, just move.

And so they do.

And yet, even in the new place, things don't return to normal. With the son still in a coma and freaky events persisting, we realize that this haunting isn't attached to any house. It's attached to the boy, himself. Upon consulting a team of paranormal experts, the family is horrified to learn that it's not a mere ghost after their child, but something much, much worse.

Plot-wise, things get more intense. But best to let you humble viewers learn such secrets yourselves.  

The Flavor:

"Insidious" plays its first half as a modern and effective spin on the haunted-house style movie. Playing up its dark hallways and cobwebs, this film knows exactly how to ramp up tension whenever a character walks into the unknown. Yes, the occasional jump scare happens, but most of the creep-factor comes from the atmosphere. At the beginning, you're aware of some kind of paranormal trickery, but have no idea why, what, or who. 

That the poltergeist could be anything literally means that anything could be around the corner whenever someone ventures off alone. James Wann plays this initial half of "Inisidious" like a fanboy of all-things old school scary. Having seen haunted house movies, ourselves, we assume the usual story will develop and the family will flee at the end.

That's when the second half throws a wrench into that notion.

You see, it's not so simple as a ghost. Something more malicious has set sight on the family, and while the first half builds a slow-burn towards what this thing actually is, the second half lets it loose. 

We're introduced to this film's monstrous entity in one shot. It comes out of nowhere, seemingly during a quiet scene. And the image of its face burns into your brain. From that point on, you're well-aware what you're dealing with. It ain't pretty.

And so unfolds the final third of the film, where the tone shifts dramatically. "Insidious" has, up until this point, presented a spooky but rather realistic take on paranormal disturbance. Once the characters figure out what's happening and how to stop it,  the film takes a more metaphysical approach. When the family patriach offers to visit the spectral plane his son is prisoner in, things get weird.

A lot of people feel this tonal shift is jarring. Me? I sorta dug the different direction. Much as I was enjoying the haunted house vibe, the shift to ethereal odyssey felt appropriate given the info that comes to light. I won't spoil anything, but let's just say these matters have a history in the family. While the astral world is certainly out-there and dream-like, it certainly doesn't disappoint in the disturbing-imagery department.

Best Paired with:

As a chiller with old-school mentally, "Insidious" makes for great Halloween viewing among friends of any taste. The film's got enough horror muscle to please even die-hard fans of the genre, while the lack of gore will keep causal fans suitably afraid but not disgusted.  It also makes for the perfect sort of scary movie to see on a date. Spooky, but not so horrifying as to turn your date's stomach or disturb them. It's the perfect "grab onto my arm" kind of scary movie.

While "Insidious" plays homage to the horror of old, and thus has little bloodshed, I hesitate to recommend it for family night. While the content is PG-13 in theory, the film's got some imagery that I imagine will scar little kids into week-long stints of insomnia. If your children are teenagers, I'd say they can handle it. However, if your kid is under 10 and you show them "Insidious", expect to have a little companion huddled up to you in bed for quite a while.

Accompanying Brew:

 With "Insidious" taking classic horror elements to construct a modern story, I wanted tonight's brew to be a modern take on a traditional and time-tested blend of flavors.

From New York, Goose Island is a brewery that's been around for years, but I've only recently begun sampling. So far, each of their brews has been a flavorful and classic entry in its respective style. No crazy flavors, just solid executions of your beer standbys: IPAs, summer ale, standard 'flagship' ale, etc.

And tonight's entry: Goose Island's Harvest Ale.

When you crack open a bottle of Harvest Ale, you'll note a surprisingly hoppy scent. Most Fall brews hold back on the hop to better illustrate their malts and/or spices, and thus frequently feature nutty or sweeter scents.

This scent extends into the flavor. With a bit more hop than typical seasonals, Harvest Ale drinks far more like a standard ale with added malt than it does an Octoberfest-style brew. Whereas Octoberfests feature a bounty of malt flavor and nutty tones, Harvest Ale stands more on the side of a traditional ale. The hops are more forward on the palate, revealing their slightly bitter but crisp flavor early on in a sip before the added malty notes characteristic of Fall styles show up.

That the malt notes are more subtle is a welcome change of pace from the usual seasonal styles. If you prefer your beer free of spices, Goose Island's Harvest Ale provides enough hop bite to please even traditionalists. It also brings enough extra malt to the party to add some subtle nut flavor to the mix without getting sweet. 

For those that like their scary movies and beer on the classic side, both "Insidious" and Goose Island's Harvest Ale offer familiar entries with high-quality presentation. What's more, both the film and the brew then take those old styles and spin them into something new.