Insidious

    Six years ago I sat down in a movie theater and watched the scariest movie I had ever seen in my life at the time. Insidious is a paranormal horror film directed by popular director James Wan, who has directed countless big budget modern horror movies and has reshaped the genre as a whole in modern times. Insidious stars Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins and Andrew Astor as the Lambert family, a seemingly normal American family until one of their sons starts displaying odd behavior and shows signs of a possession. When their son becomes increasingly sick both physically and mentally, weirder things start to happen more and more and the doctor they have working with him doesn't seem to be working, so they call in a professional medium, Lin Shaye. The plot from here then goes into full catastrophic mode as the house begins to literally fill with bad spirits and ghosts who have "insidious" agendas, according to one of the character's in the film.
    What Insidious did to the horror genre as a whole is completely revolutionize it. Before this film, for many a years the world had not seen a horror movie up to this quality and general level of horror contained in the film. As seen now, this was not simply some big-budget horror movie with a horrendous script, but actually a diamond in the rough. This film set the precedent for the modern horror genre and created a revival for the genre and the film series that would go on to make millions off of the sequels.
     The director of this film, James Wan, has been a well known director for many years now with his first big hit Saw from 2004. Now James has not only solidified himself as one of the most genius horror directors of the 21st century, but has begun to explore new genres and isn't only sticking to horror. Insidious really captured my interest and love for the horror genre and has changed the opinion on how good these movies actually are in the eyes of the public. Until this day Insidious is the scariest movie I have ever seen and until we get something that shocks me more, I believe that this will go down as one of the best horror movies ever.