15 Must-See Blumhouse Movies

4. Insidious

Sinister Ethan Hawke
Focus Features

This was an early hit for Blumhouse and was released in 2011, back when the horror genre was still down the toilet. Therefore, Insidious was an exhilarating film to watch since it was something which, back then, felt increasingly rare: a scary horror film.

Insidious is absolutely nerve-shredding. It's filled with jump scares, but for once these all work and the jump scares are genuinely terrifying. It's also loaded with atmosphere, has an accomplished cast and is brilliantly directed by horror master James Wan, making this an unusually good horror film for its time.

There are only two big drawbacks regarding Insidious. Firstly, the final act gets a little silly and secondly, it's a frustrating watch, since it shows that jump scare-ridden supernatural horror films can actually work in the right hands. When watching it, one will be wishing all studio horror films could be this good and this effective.

The sequels aren't worth bothering with, but this first film is an absolute horror knock-out.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.