Music

Exclusive: Shannon Larkin Reviews ‘Insidious’

Published

13 years ago

July 20, 2011

Shannon Larkin, drummer of Godsmack, is on a roll with these horror reviews! We’ve had BD Selects’ Yellowbrickroad and the 70’s grindhouse exploitation flick Hobo With A Shotgun. Now, Shannon is back with a review for one of 2011’s biggest horror success stories, Insidious! Check out the exclusive review after the jump!

Shannon Larkin-

This is a ghost story that starts off with a creepy vibe, and maintains a dark, mysterious tone for the first half hour or so until we get a clue as to what is happening. Directed by James Wan (of Saw fame), this PG-13 thriller is nothing like the Saw franchise, as there is no blood or gore at all, and deals in the paranormal. That said, it is scary and well acted, and even while it moves a bit slow, the direction is good and Wan certainly knows how to film creepy sets and scenarios.

Josh (Patrick Wilson) and his wife Renai (Rose Byrne) move into a big old house with their three children (two young boys and an infant sister). The film is focused on Dalton (Ty Simpkins) who, after some strange ghost-like happenings, goes to sleep one night and simply doesn’t wake up. The doctors have no clue what caused this coma-like state, as all of his vitals and brain mechanics seem completely normal. The ghostly happenings (things being mysteriously moved around, doors slamming, phantoms being seen as shadows, etc) continue until Renai finally freaks out thinking the house is haunted, and demands they move out immediately. This happens after months have gone by, and personally, I would have moved out after a week! But alas, I would have been wrong also, as it turns out the house wasn’t what was haunted after all…

As things keep happening in the new house, and at the end of their rope, the parents hire a team of ghostbuster types, that feature a couple techies and a lady named Elise (the creepy Lin Shaye) who is a psychic that is a relative of Josh. We learn little Dalton, still in a comatose state, was actually a sleep traveler, that could leave his body at night to fly around in a sort of purgatory that coexists with other spirits that are not at rest, and want to live again. His spirit got lost and ended up being captured by a demon that wants to inhabit his human form to wreak havoc in the living world, hence his coma-like state. The demon must keep Dalton’s spirit from returning to his body for an indeterminate amount of time before it is strong enough to possess him. In the twist that brings it all together, we find out that Josh was also a sleep traveler when he was a young boy, but had repressed any memories of his own creepy experiences and now must learn to re-enter this spirit world to guide his son’s spirit back to his body.

All in all, if you like paranormal stories with creepy ghosts, you will enjoy this film, as it is well made and has a good climactic ending with a really messed up twist at the very end that is indeed shocking. More like Paranormal Activity than Saw, remaining old fashioned in its approach, this is a fun romp to ghostville. A lot like the definition of the title word: Insidious – proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects. That about sums up the film. I liked it.

3 out of 5 stars. Will go in the collection.

Until the last time, Apocalypse!

Godsmack are currently on tour as one of the main headliners of the Rockstar Mayhem Energy Festival. Make sure to get your tickets here.

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

1 week ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…