Young family The Lamberts move into a new house. Their son Dalton ventures into the attic where he encounters a supernatural entity. The next day he mysteriously slips into a coma. Three months later and with no sign of change, The Lamberts turn first to the church for help but then to psychic Elise Rainier and her side-kicks to try and awaken their son.

Insidious looks great, has handsome framing and is very slick. But, alas, there is nothing new here in terms of story and worse to boot, it’s boring. There is a strong Poltergeist influence here and there are touches of the Exorcist thrown in for good measure too. Whilst I’m not a Poltergeist fan, I’d still rather watch that than this effort. And I can watch The Exorcist at any time and it will always turn a frown upside down.

Lin Shaye and Barbara Hershey are wasted here. Even the sight of Ms. Shaye wearing what looks like a gas mask made for an elephant can’t liven up proceedings.

The demon at the film’s conclusion looks like a rubbish version of Darth Maul.

‘From the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw’ the poster exclaims. If that doesn’t really mean ‘Stay away!’ then I don’t know what does.

1.5 out of 5 stars