This Blu-ray/DVD review of “Insidious” and “[REC] 2” appears on KTKA-49.
Horror movies get a shot in the arm with two new releases out on DVD and Blu-ray.
“Insidious” is an old-fashioned ghost story from the writer/directors of the very first “Saw” movie. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne star as parents of a child who is haunted by an otherworldly entity. The movie does a great job building up the central mystery with traditional spookhouse movie tricks, leading up to a revelation that is novel and satisfying, something that can’t be said for a lot of horror films these days.
It’s a little downhill after that, as the ending struggles to explain too much and take itself a bit too literally, but mostly “Insidious” is an engaging treat.
“[REC] 2,” on the other hand, is downright tense, pretty much throughout the entire picture. A sequel to the cult hit “[REC],” this movie follows a troop of soldiers sent into a quarantined apartment building to control an infectious disease. The film gets a lot of mileage from its concept of seeing things only through the soldiers’ helmet-mounted cameras, but the plot also develops in some surprising directions.
If you’ve seen the first “[REC],” there are some more details you may pick up on, but I hadn’t, and “[REC] 2” is still very scary and enjoyable without prior knowledge of its predecessor.
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:
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