Movie Review: Insidious: The Last Key

My first theatre film of 2018 was Insidious: The Last Key and in the end I had some mixed feelings about it.

The Good: Lin Shaye's performance as parapsychologist Elise Rainer is consistently the best part of these films.  Honestly, I'm thrilled to see any franchise with a female lead older than 40, regardless of genre and her brave, yet troubled character makes each film the franchise much more emotionally involved than I have any right to expect.

In addition, although yes, the film does have a few jump scares and fake outs, (the lack of which were a huge part of why I loved the first film in the series), much of the best stuff happens on the astral plane (called "the further" in the film series), and that exploration is a really interesting journey that I don't see very often in haunted house films.

The Bad: The film suffers from working as a joining piece, stretching in between the events of Insidious Chapter 3 and the first film in the series.  In many ways there are sequences in this film that I wish had been done different (specifically one taking place in the further and an early sequence with a six or seven year old Elise) but I'll shy away from specifics to avoid spoilers.

In the end the film is a functional conclusion to the series and was a fun filmgoing experience, but would not be for newcomers and suffers from a need to reinforce the franchise, rather than telling its own story.

Movie Review: Insidious Chapter 3

Yesterday I went to see the latest entry in the Insidious Franchise, Insidious Chapter 3, and although the film did have some serious flaws, I had a pretty fun time.

Leaving behind (or I suppose ahead, as this is a prequel) the Lambert family, being the main characters from the first two chapters, this one focuses on a new family, The Brenners, and specifically their seventeen-year-old daughter Quinn (Stefanie Scott).  Equally sharing screen time, and effectively stealing the show is Elise Rainier, played incredibly well by Lin Shaye, who I have to say may be my favourite part of all of these films.

The movie works best in terms of the questions it asks, and it's deeper delve into the franchise's world of "The Further" but does lose out as it mostly relies on shocks and jumps, and unfortunately attempts to tie itself too closely to the previous films, but I have to admit, in it's better moments I was definitely unnerved.

If you've never seen the series, definitely check out the first, as it is by far the strongest, but if you find you enjoyed the world and it's characters, the sequels are worth a look as well.