Insidious Inferno

Let me start off by saying that this film is surprisingly good with an impactful twist, and it's one of those foods that you want to get your snacks and drinks and get comfortable prior because you will not want to miss one second. This film is nothing short of excitement and brilliance as the cast and crew deliver a well developed film that grabs for your attention from the very start. Without giving away any spoilers, the directors creativity allows the mind to venture in and feel as though you are a part of the movie in an orthodox Way. I would recommend watching at least once to see how this movie affects you, but overall it was a pretty good job, and I would most definitely recommend it to fans of horror films.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the 2023 horror movie "Insidious Inferno" prior to stumbling upon it by random luck here in 2024. And with it being a horror movie I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to give writer and director Calvin Morie McCarthy's movie a fair chance.

The narrative in the movie is a bit mundane and sluggish. There simply isn't enough happening throughout the course of the 30 minutes that I manage to suffer through. After just 30 minutes of prolonged nothing happening, it felt like I had sat through 80 minutes or such already, so imagine my shock when I checked the counter and saw that only 30 minutes had passed. And thus, I gave up on the ordeal that is "Insidious Inferno".

"Insidious Inferno" was quite an insidious affair to suffer through. There wasn't anything particularly scary in the narrative, aside from how bland and monotonous it was.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, and that is something that I enjoy when I watch a movie. So that spoke in favor of the movie for me. The acting performances in "Insidious Inferno" were actually fair enough, nothing outstanding or memorable, mind you, but actually fair enough for what they turned out to be.

Visually then you're not in for anything grand either. So the movie doesn't score any points on that account.

"Insidious Inferno" is not a movie I would recommend you rush out and get to watch. In fact, give the movie a wide berth, because it simply isn't worth the effort. Some of us suffered through this, in lesser or greater extend, so you don't have to; you're very welcome. And believe you me, this is not a movie that I will ever return to attempt finish watching.

My rating of "Insidious Inferno" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Last week I noticed there were only (2) reviews for this movie and they were both 10/10. Surely this was a film not to be missed. Unfortunately I thought both people can't be wrong so I watched it. BIG mistake. It is absolutely woeful.

No plot whatsoever and the acting(?) was unbelievable - and not in a good way. I checked on the (2) main actors and to my astonshiment, they have been in several other films!

The woman inherits her fathers log cabin / house in the middle of nowhere. Her and her husband are going to the house for a week to 'fix' it up and do some painting. She really doesn't want to go which she says numerous times as something happened to her there years ago. Then why didn't she just send Bob the builder to the house by himself to do the work? She decides to go along anyway.

Even though the house has been empty and derelict for years, there is no dust / cobwebs etc, it looks really really clean. And the best thing is that the electricity is still switched on - who's been paying for that?

When they get there a guy from the realtor office is there and tells them that He is bringing in some experts to fix the roof / fix the pipes / landscape the garden as they have certain policies they must abide by and Bob the builder can't do the work himself. The wife just whinges all the time about how she just wants to get it fixed up and get out of there - so why didn't they just leave as they weren't allowed to do any maintenance work themselves?

There is no tension / horror in this film, acting is crap and I've been duped again by the high reviewers who were probably affiliated with the film or cast.

This film is quite slow and laborious in parts but what they have done is create a genuinely uncomfortable feeling about the whole thing. I find it very disappointing to see reviewers giving this a 10 out of 10, it is certainly not a film so amazing it could not be improved and those people giving it such a score are either on the pay roll or just a bit dumb. It really had a feel of 70s and 80s horror films and feels influenced by the likes of Dario Argento, which is certainly not a bad thing. If you want something creepy I'd recommend this, if you want fast paced action and special effects you may find it's not really your thing.

Heading back to her father's house, a woman and her husband looking to stay there until the property is flipped but a series of strange incidents have them convinced that a story about the house sitting on one of the seven doorways to Hell is true and have to get away before it's opened.

Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable if somewhat slightly problematic effort. One of the more likable features here is the rather intriguing storyline setup that brings together some genuinely fun elements. The initial idea of the woman returning to her childhood home and immediately encountering cryptic locals spouting equally cryptic warnings about the house and their staying there works rather nicely at getting things going on a strong note. The escalating sense of danger here, involving the different warnings and visions that they experience while being there, whether ranging from her visions of otherworldly beings trying to come for her or his encounters with the blind woman's warnings, is all handled quite well here and serves up quite the chilling groundwork for what's to come later. With this storyline set up nicely, the film's dive into exploring these various plot points comes together in a rather fun series of scenes. The inaugural possession moments are handled rather nicely with the inability to recognize this state and what they'd done while under its influence is quite fun, much like the series of visions and hallucinatory dreams that take place showing the possessed carry out malicious acts against their family or loved ones that has an extra touch featuring the whole thing taking place in vibrant red lighting. The wild finale, featuring the reveal of the house's evil nature and the otherworldly beings at the center of the supernatural shenanigans, leaves this with some generally fun ideas and some solid gore to end things on a high note for quite a lot to like here. There are some issues to be had with this one that bring it down. The main drawback on display is the film's insistence on utilizing the trope of the aggressive spouse trying to push the other past their comfort zone for no real reason. The whole concept of the house-flipping taking place is already a shaky enough proposition and her reluctance to do it resting on the personal trauma she has associated with the matter is already enough of a red flag to be cautious with following through on it yet him barging through looking to get the thing finished at any cost is the root cause of everything. This kind of annoyance at doing anything is somewhat infuriating by pushing things to happen when they don't need to. Alongside the overly familiar storyline present with the film cribbing bits and pieces from several similar entries together, there's not much else to dislike here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.