Insidious: The Last Key **
/ *****
Directed by: Adam Robitel.
Written by: Leigh Whannell based on
characters he created.
Starring: Lin Shaye (Elise Rainier),
Leigh Whannell (Specs), Angus Sampson (Tucker), Kirk Acevedo (Ted Garza), Caitlin
Gerard (Imogen Rainier), Spencer Locke (Melissa Rainier), Josh Stewart (Gerald
Rainier), Tessa Ferrer (Audrey Rainier), Aleque Reid (Anna), Ava Kolker (Young
Elise Rainier), Pierce Pope (Young Christian Rainier), Bruce Davison (Christian
Rainier).
I
remember liking the original Insidious (2011) so much more than I was expecting
to, which is probably why I’ve kept coming back time and again to the sequels.
James Wan directed the first one at the peak of his considerable horror movie
powers, and the result is a truly terrifying film. Wan was back for the second
film as well – as he directs the hell out of that movie, but it really did feel
like he was going over the same ground he already covered the first time. Wan
is now directing blockbusters (I want him to come back to horror, but like many
who make their name in the genre, he seems to want out at this point), and
writer Leigh Whannell took over for the third installment – a prequel to the
other films, which knew the words, but not the music so to speak, and had some
effective scare moments and not a lot else. Now comes the fourth movie in the
series – and although it’s called The Last Key, which would imply that it is
the last movie, it also very clearly sets up a fifth film. Sometimes you have
to know when to call it a series.
In
this film, Elise Rainer (Lin Shaye) is back once again. This time, she receives
a call from the man currently living in her childhood home – which was where
she first discovered her powers with the paranormal – which ended up opening a
door to the other side, for something to come through and kill her mother. That
left her with a real life monster – her father. She never wanted to go back
there, but really, what choice does she have? There is unfinished business at
that house – and she means to finish it this time.
Shaye
has always been a highlight of the series – but she is best when she is used in
support of the main characters, not the main character herself. You need people
like Patrick Wilson/Rose Bryne from the first two films, or Stefanie Scott in
the third, to be a kind of audience surrogate, and not expect the creepy
psychic lady to play that role too. Still, she carries Insidious: The Last Key
as far as it can go – which sadly isn’t that far. Because these film always
need some pretty girls to put in jeopardy, it introduces Elise’s brother (Bruce
Davison) – still angry with her all these decades later, and his two pretty
daughters (Caitlin Gerald and Spencer Locke). Both of them will enter that
house from their father and aunt’s childhood at various times – and have to
deal with what’s on the other side of a red door.
The
problem with horror movie series’ is that the genre depends on surprise and
suspense to work, and most horror series just want to repeat the scares that
worked in the past films again and again and again. That’s pretty much the case
here – the film goes through the motions of what you expect it to. To be fair,
it’s done with skill, and at times the film can still be quite fun, and a
little scary. But overall, it’s really the first film in the series that I
never found truly gripping, truly frightening. The second and third films
weren’t great – but they were solid. This one feels like everyone involved is
just phoning it in.
Still,
will I be back when/if they make Insidious 5? Given the stinger at the end of
this film setting up that one, probably. I just hope that next time, they push
themselves a little farther.
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