The first teaser for Saw director James Wan's new haunted person movie Insidious relied heavily on the technique most horror movie trailers (As well as every film Saw series) overuse: Flash-cutting tons of imagery together with noises and music that practically scream: "Be scared right now!" But look! This new trailer actually contains some tension, build-up and slow reveals! And it's pretty scary!
Story-wise, we don't get much new information; Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson somehow end up with a haunted son (Bummer!) and then some ghost experts show up to try to un-haunt the son. Or something.
Stylistically though, this trailer suggests a slower pace with a bit more emphasis on building tension than assaulting the audience with various demons. Admittedly, it does unleash pretty much the same barrage of images as the first trailer during the last few seconds, but it's not as obnoxious here. Those curious about what the hell those images are can check out the screen-shot analysis of the first trailer.
Bonus points for the way it keeps flashing "Insidious Is" on the screen in bigger letters, which reminded me of a classic 70's previews like Dario Argento's Suspiria. Only, uh...what is Insidious? I mean, I guess we're supposed to get that "Insidious is Insidious," but it's kind of a lame payoff after so much build up. Or maybe the pay off is that Insidious is everywhere April 1? Good to know! But still a bit of a letdown. Oh well, it creates a nice rhythm anyway.
Verdict: Sold.