FOR RENT | DVD Report Card

Call me crazy, but pound for pound, “Insidious,” a wildly ingenious little low-budget horror movie, might be one of the most purely entertaining movies I've seen all year — not the best, by any means, but probably one of the movies from 2011 I'll find myself rewatching the most, because it's just fun. Director James Wan (“Saw”) makes the most of a limited budget with atmosphere, pure dread and tons of scares, working with the producers of “Paranormal Activity” to deliver a fun twist on the haunted house movie, sort of a “Poltergeist” for a new generation. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne star as a couple who have just moved with their children into a large, creaky old house. Soon afterward, one of their sons falls into a mysterious coma. And that's when things start getting really scary. I don't know how effectively “Insidious” is going to play on DVD, but in theaters, these scares were really scary, and the third act of the movie goes into some crazy, atypical territory for a movie of its sort. Sometimes you can see where the filmmakers stretched each dollar they had, but the movie never ceases to entertain, and I can think of plenty of horror movies with millions and millions of dollars thrown into them that featured no genuine scares. $30.99 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray.