Insidious
FilmDistrict | Release Date: April 1, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
11
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMar 30, 2011
A haunted-house movie that has some of the most shivery and indelible images I've seen in any horror film in decades. Yes, it's that unsettling. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 3, 2011
If there's a complaint to be made about Insidious, it's that the film's second half is unable to live up to the impossibly high standards set by the first half. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasMar 31, 2011
All calculation aside, scary is still scary, and Insidious makes up in old-fashioned tension what it sometimes lacks in originality. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 31, 2011
Nicely acted by all and photographed in creepy, cold, under-lit tones. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 30, 2011
A tidy terror flick, and refreshing with its intention to make viewers gasp rather than gag. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreMar 30, 2011
The spookiest and most entertaining horror flick since "Paranormal Activity." Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 30, 2011
No blood, no gore, no hacked-off arms and legs, but plenty of creepy set pieces, quick cuts and blasts of music that will have you both squirming in your seat and jumping out of it. Until the bone-headed part kicks in. Read full review
70
Village VoiceNick PinkertonMar 29, 2011
We need visionaries-but also solid craftsmen who seem to enjoy their work. Insidious is the product of the latter. It doesn't build a better haunted house but, when on its game, reminds us of the genre's pleasures. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 27, 2011
Successful to a point (though seemingly unaware of the chuckles it produces in between shrieks), the movie has strong prospects with genre audiences but won't spawn a phenomenon resembling the filmmakers' previous franchise. Read full review
70
VarietyRob NelsonMar 27, 2011
A possession thriller less terrifying than fun. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 31, 2011
This one is not terrifically good, but moviegoers will get what they're expecting. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 31, 2011
Here's a better than average spook-house movie, mostly because Insidious decides it can haunt an audience without spraying it with blood. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 31, 2011
If your idea of a fun night out is to be manipulated by freaky sound effects, jumpy edits, and point-of-view shots of ceiling fans whooshing menacingly, Insidious is the film for you. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie OgleMar 31, 2011
By the time it's over, Insidious is less scary than a mortgage payment. Read full review
60
MovielineMichelle OrangeMar 31, 2011
A concerted effort to make a scary movie without spilling a drop of blood, Insidious is earnest to the point of suffocation about scaring you silly. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 31, 2011
The pleasant surprise when you actually watch Insidious is that it turns out to be a moderately effective suburban-family creep show, majorly in debt to "Poltergeist" and "The Exorcist" and capturing at least a little of their spirit. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyMar 29, 2011
Insidious could have been something special: a horror movie that actually horrifies without resorting to gore. Instead, thanks to too many cheap jokes and a bit of silly music, it falls short. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithApr 1, 2011
Creepy spirits in old-timey dress, ear-stabbing sound cues, slamming doors and bloody handprints: The horror flick Insidious isn't scared to be trite. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyMar 31, 2011
Throughout, Wilson and Byrne play these parts straightforward and there's an undercurrent of real anguish in the struggle of parents coping with a child's long-term care. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 31, 2011
The movie is hampered throughout by little inconsistencies. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 31, 2011
It's far more annoying than frightening. Read full review
50
The New York TimesMike HaleMar 31, 2011
The strongest analogue for the second half of Insidious is one that the filmmakers probably weren't trying for: it feels like a less poetic version of an M. Night Shyamalan fairy tale. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 28, 2011
The thing is scary as hell when it's all creaks and thumps and doors swinging open. Then come the explanations, the special effects, and the inevitable feeling of been-there-been-­bombarded-by-that. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 1, 2011
Insidious doesn't feature the lazy, home-video-style terror of "Paranormal Activity," thankfully. But it's also pretty normal activity for a ghost story. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMar 29, 2011
None of this is particularly well wrought, and only a bizarre gas mask worn by the séance leader counts as an inspired (if slightly silly) touch. Read full review
38
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 1, 2011
It feels more like a poor man's "Poltergeist, " minus the static-filled TV. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 31, 2011
You can't criticize it for false advertising. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeEthan GilsdorfMar 31, 2011
The crazy train of Insidious runs fully off the rails when the filmmakers go logical and some of the strange gets explained away as a double shot of demonic possession and astral projection. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderBen SachsMar 31, 2011
Aesthetically, Insidious operates at the level of a decent high school video project. Read full review
0
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMar 31, 2011
The only remotely entertaining aspects of Insidious come from Whannell and Sampson as a comic pair of hypercompetitive hipster ghost hunters, and even that schtick is repeated ad nauseam. Read full review
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