Insidious

"It's not the house that's haunted."

2011 1h 42m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

🍅

66%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 7,656🍅66%Rotten Tomatoes●52Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 365,703

HorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a professional for help, they learn things are a lot more personal than they thought.

“It's not the house that's haunted.”

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Cast

Patrick Wilson
Josh Lambert
Rose Byrne
Renai Lambert
Lin Shaye
Elise Rainier
Ty Simpkins
Dalton Lambert
Barbara Hershey
Lorraine Lambert
Leigh Whannell
Specs
Angus Sampson
Tucker
Andrew Astor
Foster Lambert

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Wan
Writers: Leigh Whannell
Languages: English
Countries: Canada, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $100M — a 66.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Insidious Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by James Wan, shot by John R. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Joseph Bishara. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kirk M. Morri shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Wan directs. John R. Leonetti behind the camera. Joseph Bishara scores. Kirk M. Morri cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Canada, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $100M — a 66.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 15 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.
5Part of the "Insidious Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by James Wan, shot by John R. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Joseph Bishara. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Kirk M. Morri shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne and Lin Shaye carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "It's not the house that's haunted.".
11IMDB entry: tt1591095 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 16 themes, including "supernatural", "medium", "halloween", "haunted house".
13Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: John R. Leonetti
Original score: Joseph Bishara
Editing: Kirk M. Morri
Production design: Aaron Sims
Costume design: Hannah Greene
Makeup / hair: Nikki Carbonetta
VFX supervisor: Michael Janov
Sound: Joe Dzuban
Stunt coordinator: Joel Kramer
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,500,000
Box office: $100,106,454
Return: 6674% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Insidious (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes: 66% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 52/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 365,703 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

8 wins & 16 nominations total

Part of

Insidious Collection

A series of American horror films where the plots are depicted as case files of demonologists. The first two films center on a couple who, after their son mysteriously enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts in an astral plane, are continuously haunted by demons of a hellish realm known as the Further until they take from the family what they want most: life. The third film, a prequel, focuses on the same psychic that helped the family this time come to the aid of a young girl who calls out to the dead, and the fourth follows her when her own family becomes haunted. All plots are depicted as case files of demonologists.

Also by

James Wan

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2018-10-02
★ 7/10
It's not wholly original, but it works because the people involved make it work, first and foremost, James Wan. Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time.
John Chard2019-11-01
★ 8/10
Tiptoe Through the Tulips. Insidious is directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. It stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye, Andrew Astor and Leigh Whannell. Music is scored by Joseph Bishara and cinematography by John R. Leonetti. The team behind "Saw" and "Dead Silence" bring us "Insidious", one of the finest exponents of the haunted house movie in the modern era. Of course that doesn't count for much with those not particularly struck by the formula, but it does seem to be one of the very few horror sub-genre movies to come out with better than average appraisals. Of course it's not perfect, few films, especially in horror world, can stand up and come through unscathed by critics and fans alike, yet for the like minded adults who can set the mood and channel themselves into the boo jump and creepy atmosphere world wrung out by Wan and Whannell, then this is the bomb. Much has been made of the shift in the last third, where the film brings in Astral Projection as its reasoning for the pant soiling previously unleashed. Undeniably the film runs away with itself, goes too far and the last 15 minutes are a chaotic mess of bold ideas and inadequate staging. However, it's interesting to note how often the haunted house movie in recent times gets accused of not bringing something new to the table, something thrown at the wonderful "Woman in Black" that followed "Insidious"down the pipe. Here the makers offer up something different, true, it hasn't worked in the way they or the hardened genre fans would have liked, but personally I found on second viewing it is forgivable. It's like riding your favourite Big Dipper, you enjoy the spins and upside down scream moments, but just tolerate the flat standard drive stretches of track while your heart tries to steady its beat. When "Insidious" is hitting its heights it's utterly thrilling and unnerving, paced to perfection, it builds from whispered voices on a baby monitor to entities invading the home of the poor Lambert family. The mystery element is strong, just what do they want? Why is son Dalton in a coma but the medical boffins have no idea why? How come the entities have followed the Lambert's even when they move house? The latter of which is refreshing to see in the screenplay, it's a logical move but so often it's not done in other horror movies. The jumps are nicely placed throughout and a number of scenes are so freaky they get under your skin and stay there for some time - seriously, I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" again without my blood being chilled. The use of photographs and mirrors bring the goose flesh to the skin, while Lin Shaye's arrival as the paranormal physic, and the subsequent use of a gas mask, keep things ticking on the freaky deaky scale (though once the gas mask scene hits it's where the pic slightly falls away). It borrows ideas and takes its tonal cues from other horror movies, definitely, and the second half doesn't live up to the promise of the first; hell I'll even concede that a certain entity is badly designed, but it does have something new to offer the formula, it's also well performed by the cast, that itself is a rarity. It hasn't resonated with all, but it was a monster hit at the box office, making nearly $85 million in profit. The market for a good haunted house spooker is always open, so Insidious, in spite of its second half irks, sits in the top draw with the best of them. 8/10