Anyway, I did finally get around to watching Insidious: The Last Key, aka Insidious: Chapter Four, and since I already re-posted my past reviews of the first two, I figured I might as well go ahead and re-post this one, too, so you all could have the full set. (In case you missed it, click here for the first installment, and here for Chapter Two.)
In a way, I suppose that makes this my first franchise review, even though all but the forthcoming review of the new one were written in the past. But that doesn't mean I still don't intend to do a franchise review anymore. To that end, I did do that poll to see what franchise you guys wanted me to review, and it was a big old bust.
Not because no one voted, mind you, but because everyone voted for the same thing, or wrote in choices that weren't included on my list. So, it ended up a however-many-movies tie, lol. As such, I guess I'll just throw a dart and choose one.
In the meantime, here's a look back at the third chapter of the ongoing Insidious franchise. This review was originally published on Facebook on October 7th, 2015.
Even though I’m a huge fan of the Insidious series, for some reason I skipped this one in the theaters. Not sure why- I think it might have been right around the time of my move, so I had a lot going on at the time.
Whatever the case, I finally saw it, and though it’s nowhere near as good as its predecessors, it’s not half-bad, either, and a decent directorial debut from writer Leigh Wannell, who not only wrote the original Insidious movies, but also created the infamous Saw series to boot.
First and foremost, the film is a prequel, so you kind of know going in that certain people are not going to die, being as how they show up in the first two movies. This part of the cast includes the indispensable horror mainstay Lin Shaye, as Elise Rainier.
Elise is a woman with a gift she’s wary of using, given the overall trouble its caused her and her sanity- not to mention her well-being. With good reason, as those who saw the first two movies know.
The plus side of the prequel gambit is that it allows Shaye to return, and it’s a good thing, as the movie all but squarely rests on her shoulders. Thankfully, she's more than up to the task at hand.
Adding some welcome comic relief, as per usual, are her not-yet sidekicks, Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (director Wannell himself), also reprising their roles from the original, as amateur ghost hunters of the Reality TV type.
However, it’s a good halfway into the film before Shaye’s character takes center stage, and while that section has its moments, it’s also a bit on the poky side, unfortunately.
We meet Quinn Brenner (former Disney girl and current cutie Stefanie Scott, A.N.T. Farm) and her father Sean (Dermot Mulroney, Shameless), who are both still reeling from the death of her mother/his wife, and dealing with the loss in decidedly different ways. Sean is burying himself in work and trying to maintain a chipper attitude for his daughter, even though he’s obviously hurting.
Meanwhile, Quinn is convinced her late mother is trying to contact her from the other side, for reasons unknown. She’s right, of course, but as we know from the previous films, when a human tries to contact the other side- here known as “The Further”- sometimes you can bring something back with you, as is the case here.
Her friends, including Maggie (Hayley Kiyoko, of CSI: Cyber and the upcoming Jem and the Holograms movie, in which she also co-stars with Scott), think she’s crazy, naturally. But then an admittedly shocking tragedy strikes and things take a turn for the really horrific. (I won’t lie- I definitely jumped when it happened, so well-played, Wannell.)
After this, the film mostly becomes an ongoing set-piece, taking place almost entirely in the Brenner’s haunted apartment. Of course, Elise is hesitant to help them at first, so there’s a bit of hemming and hawing on her end, but we know we wouldn’t really have a movie if she didn’t, so that’s a bit of a foregone conclusion.
On the plus side, it’s due to this hesitation that the ghost hunters get involved, and thank God for that, because it’s just as the film starts to get a bit snoozy, and they undeniably lighten up the proceedings.
Not that there’s anything wrong with maintaining a seriousness throughout a horror film, mind you, but the Insidious films are kind of the horror movie equivalent of a carnival fun-house, so you kind of do want some laughs along with the scares in this case.
With those two, you get them, even if it's laughter of the nervous variety, since you know good and well something is going to go down sooner than later. Eventually, Elise joins in, and that’s when things really get cooking. I won’t spoil it for anyone, but suffice it to say, scary stuff happens.
Now, aside from the whole prequel gambit, the main problem with the film is that most of what’s going to happen is sort of a foregone conclusion. I mean, yes, the fates of the Brenners are admittedly up for grabs, but overall, you can kind of see where’s it’s all headed.
As an additional issue, what made the second one so cool was the unexpectedly clever way it tied into the first one, serving as both a sort of prequel and sequel at the same time.
Without that sort of hook here, we end up with what amounts to a sort of variation on Poltergeist- which, yes, granted, the original films were as well, but here the seams really show in earnest, as Wannell just isn’t bringing enough new to the table to warrant anyone going out of their way to see it.
If you loved the first two, then yeah, you’ll probably like this well enough, but if those films didn’t do it for you, then you’ll certainly want to avoid this one, as it’s not even that good.
I will admit to jumping a few times here and there. I alluded to the first one already- you’ll know it when you see it- and there’s also a good moment with Elise exploring her “medium” room downstairs at her house, but overall, they were of the “jump scare” variety, which have always struck me as a bit of a cheat, anyway.
I mean, you can make anyone jump with a loud bang and a musical sting, really. It takes real skill to genuinely get under a viewer’s skin, though, and Wannell just isn’t there yet. As such, he could stand to learn a bit more from his predecessor and no doubt mentor, director James Wan, who helmed the first two.
On the plus side, it’s only his first film as a director, and he certainly has an aptitude for it, and we already know he’s a talented writer, so it’s only a matter of time before he tackles an original script that isn’t a continuation of something else, like this and the Saw movies.
I think, with the right project, he could be a real contender, though only time will tell if he has the skills of his mentor James Wan (who crops up here in a cameo AS a director, BTW). Odds are good that he has a good horror movie in him somewhere though, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what he comes up with.
Until then, there’s Insidious: Chapter Three and it is what it is. You could do a lot worse, admittedly, but you could definitely do a lot better as well. This one’s a rental all the way, which is what I did. I suppose Insidious completists will want to own it, and I might eventually, if I’m being honest.
However, if you don’t have any of the movies already, I highly recommend picking up the available 3-pack of all the movies in one fell swoop, as you’ll at least get two great movies along with this so-so one.
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