There is no denying that director James Wan has become a modern-day horror visionary. He has brought a breath of fresh air to the genre and has given various generations of horror-goers something new and inventive. From Saw to the more recent and strange Malignant, Wan does not disappoint in giving us something new.
Perhaps his most famous contributions to the horror genre are the 2010 Insidious and the 2013 The Conjuring. These singular installments have been noted by critics as part of the scariest films of all time lists. Now over a decade after these films have been released, discussions are just as relevant with new sequels in the works.
Both films have been immensely successful and spawned entire franchises. However, there is much debate as to which films of the two are scarier. Despite the PG-13 rating, Insidious is the scarier film compared to the R-rated The Conjuring film. However different the films are, there is a clear distinction when it comes to the horror in each. The long-lasting tension that remains after Insidious is much more prevalent than in The Conjuring.
Why Is Insidious So Scary?
The film uses supernatural and psychological elements to tell an original terrifying story. Insidious has no previous source material, aside from Leigh Whannell’s screenplay and James Wan’s directorial vision. Whannell and Wan also collaborated on the classic torture film Saw. With a refreshing sense of originality, there comes unsettling uncertainty. We are guided by Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) who emits an anxiety that settles the entire cast pertaining to the idea of The Further.
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The Further is a dark place no one has ever seen before, and that makes it a playground for Wan to do whatever he wants. The score by Joseph Bishara provides a creepy ambiance and a brutally haunting crescendo in those moments of true horror. Most notably, when Renai (Rose Byrne) listens to her baby monitor and a demonic voice shouts through the speaker. This is accompanied by a haunting score to accompany the jump scares.
What makes Insidious so scary is the unpredictability. Even though there is relatively no gore, there is a sense of helplessness and an echoing dread for the entire runtime. The color palettes utilized are grayish and blueish and the colors are toned out. This color choice, and cinematography all together, foreshadow the dream-like state like what we find in The Further.
Ultimately, Insidious utilizes astral projection and dreams as the catalyst of the stories. These philosophical concepts are mystical and mostly convey magic and wonderment. However, Wan takes this and makes a much darker overtone. Childhood traumas are used and rehashed and infiltrated dreams, painting them in dread. But the most disturbing way the film ends is why it holds its stature as the scariest. There is no happy ending, unlike The Conjuring, and the evil of the further comes into the real world and harms the family we have spent so much time getting to know through the runtime.
How Disturbing Is The Conjuring?
The Conjuring had some clever marketing schemes and tactics when it was released in 2013. It contains one of the scariest posters of all time and worshipers reportedly blessed the theaters where the film was screened. The film also has the clever marketing usage of true-life events to back up its integrity. But as we all know, Hollywood is one to dramatize and accentuate real-life events.
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The Conjuring is truly based on the files of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are paranormal investigators and demonologists. The film is genuinely scary, but it takes the factual events of the source material and turns it into a much more familiar type of narrative. While there are disturbing moments, the film wouldn't suffice as a traumatizing flick. Nevertheless, the film kicked off an entire universe of interconnected stories ranging in supernatural elements.
The haunted house film has been done countless times before and will be done countless times after. This does not detract from the film in the slightest. But it does take away from its originality as a story and not a truthful account of a tragic haunting. The Warrens (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga) are very likable and trustworthy characters, so when things become darker… it’s real. What the film takes seriously is its commitment to debunking what is actually a haunting and what is a practical explanation.
Both The Conjuring and Insidious feature real scares and take the viewer to a place of true horror. But where The Conjuring falls is in its commercial appeal. It does follow the familiar formula of exorcisms and haunted houses. Wan executes both of the films in a way no modern horror director seems to surpass. Nevertheless, Insidious is easily one of the scariest and darkest films of this generation, and there is still a story to tell.
The newest installment in the franchise, Insidious: The Red Door is set to release in the summer of 2023 with Patrick Wilson taking on the director role and James Wan in the producer role.
