Insidious: The Last Key Movie Review
In 2010, a horror film titled Insidious hit theatres. The movie was unique in that it was rated PG-13, but was actually scary and really good. Three years later, Insidious: Chapter 2 was released, and pulled off something even more rare--it was a sequel that was just as good as the original. Unable to leave us with a perfect one-two punch, Insidious: Chapter 3 was dropped on us in 2015. This was a prequel to the first two movies, and while still entertaining, failed to capture the magic of the other films. Sticking with the Hollywood theory of "If it's making money, keep beating the dead horse" (Disney has mastered this), Insidious: The Last Key came out in 2018. This movie chronologically falls between Chapter 3 and the original movie, and, much like the third film, centers on Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), the parapsychologist we came to know and tolerate in the first two films. I made the point when reviewing the third movie that Elise was not a strong enough character to center the movie on, and Shaye's acting doesn't help this issue--the exact same can be said for this film. A good thing about the previous three installments is they all had a cast that was strong enough to overlook the questionable acting of Shaye and her sidekicks, played by Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson--no such support is in this film, as the acting beyond these three is equally as bad. The scares also take a step down here, and our new demon may remind you of a fella from another movie.
Castle Freak's brother?
Whannell, who also wrote the previous three films, seemingly wrote this one to connect the dots and answer some questions that still remained within the franchise. The beginning of the film is actually a prequel to everything, as we see Elise as a child--these scenes are, from a story standpoint, probably the most interesting of the movie. Whannell, the director of the third movie, hands those reigns over to Adam Robitel (The Taking of Deborah Logan), and the drop in that department is obvious--going from James Wan (Saw) directing the first two films to Whannell in the third film was a drastic change, and from Whannell to Robitel is just another step down. Even with all this said, not all is bad with this film. There are still a few scenes that are a little frightening, though the reliance on jump scares takes away from this. We also catch a cool glimpse of the Lipstick-Faced Demon that terrorized the Lamberts in the first film. The title would indicate this is the final film of the franchise, but we also know this one made more money than any of the three previous pictures--keeping in mind the Hollywood rule above, I'd be surprised if we don't get a fifth chapter. Here's hoping the Insidious story is over.
On A Scale Of One To Ten: 5
Insidious: The Last Key Movie Trailer
No comments:
Post a Comment