As a medium, film is very powerful at eliciting moods and feelings. When turned to the horror genre it can be equally powerful. There is this fine line though that limits its effectiveness, show too much too soon and the sense of menace quickly evaporates.
Insidious: The Red Door envelopes the audience with just enough information to build a sense of unease that escalate throughout its 107-minute running time. This might underwhelm those who thirst for extreme violence or novel ways of dispatching victims.
When you take the time and make the audience endure the pace you can build to a real climax. This is where most horror films lose the plot, too much violence and it becomes cartoonish, showing the protagonist in the full light of day and the sense of danger can evaporate. The end of horror films are difficult to pull off.
Using a number of the tricks of the trade helps sell the premise. Here, the sound design is very effective and unnerving as is the level of restraint shown in divulging information, it does its best not to overplay its hand. When the final resolution happens, it fills those gaps of knowledge and adds to the overall creepiness.
Rob Hudson
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