Film Analysis Essay on Insidious

Introduction

Insidious is a one hour forty minutes horror film directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. The film's inauguration to theaters was on April 1st, 2011. It is a productive and well-written view on the haunted house phenomenon in horror movies. This paper is a review of the movie's plot and characters to determine the playwright of the movie.

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Plot

The plot is based on a typical American family which consists of Josh and Renai Lambert, husband, and wife played by Patrick Wilson and Rose Bryne. The couple has two sons Dalton and Foster and an infant daughter Cali. The two sons are played by actors Ty Simpkins and Andrew Astor respectively. The beginning scene is of the family taking up residence of a new home and unpacking their personal properties (Coulter 8). Soon after a series of small strange events occur which are noticed by the Renai, such as items moving on their own.

An incident then occurs when Dalton the curious young boy decides to explore the attic and falls on a perilous ladder after what appears to be a shocking encounter and goes into a coma. Josh and Renai rush him to hospital the next morning and the doctors diagnose that he's in a coma that they are unable to explain. Three months come to pass when Dalton is still in treatment under observation which unfortunately yields no results and he remains unconscious. Permission is granted to the couple to take their son home (McCloskey 18).

A short period of time after taking their son home, Renai hears a voice on the baby's (Cali's) monitor which shouts "I want it now". It is the first of the disturbing events that plague the Lambert family. Renai's shock of the events are heightened when her son Josh acknowledges that he does not like it when Dalton "sleepwalks". The events continue plaguing Renai when she sees a frightening figure in Cali's room and then proceeds to discover a bloody handprint on Dalton's bed. Renai tells Josh, her husband who had been working late in the office about the series of mysterious events but he turns a blind eye. That night, Renai is attacked by the dark figure she had seen in Cali's room and implores Josh and the family to move into a new house. The lamberts desert the house and move into a new one.\

In the new house, things do not seem to improve for the family as the otherworldly unnatural events continue to occur. Renai sees the phantom form of a young boy and these events seem to become increasingly ominous leaving the family with a dense foreboding. Lorraine, Josh's mother, played by Barbara Hershey claims she had a dream of going to Dalton's room and seeing something ghastly in the corner and when she asked what it wanted it answers "Dalton". She then sees the same red-faced monster standing behind Josh and it roars at her. Consequently, Dalton's room is destructively attacked. The events instigate Lorraine to contact a friend Elise Reiner played by Lin Shaye who together with her team Specs and Tucker acted by Leigh Whannel and Angus Sampson specialize in the investigation of paranormal activity.

Elise ventures into Dalton's room and envisions the same red-faced demon describing it to one of her assistants who draws the same figure that Lorraine had seen. Elise then proceeds to clarify to Josh and Renai that their son is not in a coma but instead he is born with an ominous ability to travel to other planes that is astral projection when he is sleeping and had been doing it since he was very young. She continues to expound that the reason Dalton is in a coma is because he had ventured too far into the realms which he believed were dreams and was stuck in a realm she acknowledges as The Further. A land of tortured souls of the dead. Dalton's spirit while in the other world has left nothing but a lifeless body which the tormented souls were grabbing at for another chance at life. The red-faced figure is, however, a demon that has a more malevolent intent for Dalton's body (Whannell 22).

Josh who was dubious of Elise's story capitulates when he sees the drawings in Dalton's room which were hinting at his ability to astral project. Elise begins a ritual to try to communicate with Dalton in this other world. It is however unsuccessful as the body is possessed by the demon and other entities and they fight the group before being ended by Elise. On completion of the session, Elise calls Lorraine and the couple aside and they reveal that their acquisition was through Josh's possession by an old woman as he could also astral project. His mother shows him a series of photos with a shadowy figure behind him which come to clearance as an old woman which explains Josh's fear of photos which explains why there were no photos of Josh as a child in their family album.

Monstrous Theme

Cohen's work called the monster culture is an important exploration with regards to the creation of monsters in the society. The scholar suggests seven theses to comprehend diverse cultures through the monsters and their reflection of humanity's fantasies, fears, desires as well as anxieties. The key point in his perception of the theses uncovers the fact that monsters are a vital portion of human life and they can never be killed or hidden forever.

The First Thesis Is That the Monster’s Body Is a Cultural Body

Beasts are emblematic portrayals of a particular cultural status- when individuals or association behave in a way that alienates them from their cultural conform space. Beasts are made by society to suit periods of change - a rising shift - and live in that society until the point when they are out of date; until the point that that which made them never again exists. Beasts play on the feelings of dread, anxieties as well as dreams inborn to that period. According to Cohen, The beast's body is a cultural body since beasts are originate from the mortal remains of the matters hid where no one will think to look just to show themselves as the beasts under our beds.

An example of this issue is the September 11 attack which posed a huge harm both literally and symbolically. It was a challenge not only to the nation's security but also had a negative impact on the fabric of the general public and its traces amplifies the 9/11 terror attack. The terrorist- the monster- is made to the society can find something to blame for its destruction and wound in its culture. Cohen states that the beast is a representation of human fantasy, desire, fear, and anxiety all consolidated to compose the body of the monster.

The Second Thesis Is That the Monster Always Escapes

As indicated by Cohen, a beast can never be overcome totally and if it is destroyed it leaves a remainder that makes individuals feel tentative of its annihilation. The beast can advance. The beast's mysteries, its distinctive comprehensions, enable it to develop in different structures and be revived to accommodate another place, time and culture (Davis and Santos 34).

For instance, The Witch has turned into the model character in current society. It generates motivation from fables, fantasies, and stories including, nation witches, volvas or shamans- a common theme of the Filipino kulam or Norse mythology. They are manifested when the way of life needs it. Although, according to Cohen, as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz murdered the fiendish witches no beast can die but it can shift.

The Third Thesis Is That the Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis

As per Cohen, the beast's trickiness depends on their psychological, social, and physical attributes that transverse the boundary of grouping. Human's natural fear of the obscure is because of their powerlessness to make a refinement or make an unmistakable inference. This clarifies further how the beast escapes as it is alluded to in the second thesis (Scott 28).

For example, according to Cohen, things that decline to comply with simple arrangement are frequently the causes of human's feelings of dread. We cannot utilize human rationale or thinking against anything we cannot classify. In view of our class discourse, the zombie suits this portrayal. It is both alive and dead. People do not have a clue about its motivation and why it wants consume flesh to live. Cohen regards the zombie as perilous.

The Fourth Thesis Is That the Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference

As indicated by Cohen, beasts will undoubtedly exist in a xenophobic culture, since there are contrasts in perspectives, suppositions, and opinions. Individuals fear unique things. Cohen elucidates with instances of monstrous distinction: the Campaigns with the Native Americans and the Muslims amid the season of Manifest Destiny. Beasts are a blend of our different feelings of trepidation but at the same time are conceived out of our desire to suit. Cohen states that what disregards social standards or qualities can be viewed as monsters (Scott 38).

For example, an incredible case of what our modern way of life is encountering is "othering." Different political stages debated the subject of migration. Anti-migration discussion is what assisted some politicians to ascend in power. Contemporarily, the word migrant may have another meaning such as refugees, illegal or undocumented aliens. In connection to this model, the monstrous contrasts will, in general, be political, racial and social and as indicated by Cohen; "the beast challenges to decimate not only the individual from a general public but also the extremely social mechanical assembly through which uniqueness is comprised or permitted" (12). They take people's employment, assets; they cause dread and threaten people's qualities in society. Thesis four is the most uneasy amongst them all because it is easily contradicted. As per the thesis, marking something as "various," we can alienate ourselves from a "beast" in order to legitimize its disengagement and following its total evacuation.

The Fifth Thesis Is That the Monster Polices the Border of the Possible

On this, Cohen recommends that the beast is an image of punishment for the taboos in the society. The beast exists to implement prevailing societal norms, and limits and social resistance is a danger of being assaulted by the beast or danger of being seen or turning into a beast yourself. As Cohen clarifies, the individuals who exhibit interest are rebuffed as a general rule.

For instance, due to its situation at the edge, the beast "monitors the outskirt of the conceivable" (20), and additionally flag the distinction (Thesis three). The beast exemplifies what is illegal, yet additionally can alluringly indicate what may be conceivable. Hannibal Lecter rings a bell of a beast that Cohen illustrates. Lecter is a metaphorical beast (ethically) and a factual beast (physically). He exemplifies societal borders that ought not to be intersected: the killer (the beast of ethical quality) and the man-eater (the physical beast).

Conclusion

The movie embraces the monstrous concept and theme in a significant way. A monster reveals itself as a companion for Dalton thus incepting the theme. The events that unfold in the house are peculiar and revolve around the actions of a monster in Dalton's innocent life. He is subconsciously influenced by the monster and ghost. Cohen clarifies that the society is responsible for the lives of monsters. Beasts permit us a focal point through which to inspect our very own way of life and beliefs regarding human life. By analyzing beasts (our feelings of dread, our aversion, and interest with them) we can find out about ourselves.

Works Cited

Coulter, Catherine. Insidious. New York: Thorndike Press, 2016. Print.

Davis, Laura K, and Cristina Santos. The Monster Imagined. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2010. Print.

McCloskey, Michael. Insidious. New York: iUniverse Inc., 2009. Print.

Scott, Niall. Monsters and the Monstrous. Johanneshov: TPB, 2011. Print.

Scott, Niall. Monsters And The Monstro...