I am a huge fan of the Insidious
franchise. The first film is high up my
list of all-time favourite cinema experiences and although the second instalment had some issues it was still great fun. When the prequel was announced I was
sceptical as I thought that it was the performances of the lovely Rose Byrne
and the even lovelier Patrick Wilson that made the Insidious films so good. The trailer looked fine and by the time
opening weekend rolled around I was excited to see it.
PLOT: After trying to make contact with her late
mother Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) is left seriously injured in a seemingly
unrelated accident. While she is at home
recuperating Quinn is stalked by a ghost and it is up to Elise (Lin Shaye) to slay
her own demons and save Quinn. END PLOT
The plot feels very much like the
plot of an Insidious film and although it had the potential to be rehash of the
haunting of the Lambert family Insidious: Chapter 3 manages to make the
familiar appear refreshing. The main
reason for this is because Insidious: Chapter 3 manages to hold the tension very well
and although the payoff was always a jump scare they were earned. My eyes were constantly looking around the
characters to try and second guess were the scare would come from which is
considered a win in my book.
Gone are the Lambert family but Lin
Shaye and the always entertaining double act of Leigh Whannell and Angus
Sampson return. I thought the film would
miss the Lamberts but watching Elise, Specs and Tucker team up for the first
time made me realise how much I love these characters. This bodes well for further insidious hauntings.
Having spent the first two films
following the Lambert family I couldn’t help but feel that the Brenners were a
bit bland. The dead mother, stressed
father, annoying little brother who only seemed to be of concern to his family
when he was late for breakfast and the put upon teenage daughter with hilarious
aspirations of being a stage actress were all a bit paint by numbers. Stefanie Scott and Dermot Mulroney do a fine
job looking wide-eyed while panting heavily but their characters were probably
the weakest part of the film.
This is the first of the
Insidious film not to be directed by the brilliant James Wan but to be honest
you really can’t tell. Leigh Whannell’s
directorial debut has been a success and is actually an improvement on
Insidious 2 which was hampered by the inclusion of the time-travelling element. Insidious: Chapter 3 had some genuinely
creepy moments and is well worth a look in the cinema to get the full benefit
of the jump scares. It gets 8/10. If we were to tiptoe through the tulips one more
time I would not be unhappy.