In lots of ways Insidious is one of the most unlikely franchise's existing today and unlike many of its other horror franchise counterparts it really is the film series that could, for over three films now Insidious has managed to be both profitable and also most importantly highly watchable and more than a little bit creepy.
The first two Insidious tales saw Saw co-creators and Australia's unsung Hollywood hero's James Wan and Leigh Whannell deliver some otherworldly chills without resorting to OTT violence or gore splatter that has sadly been a staple of modern day horror films that think the more blood spilled the more effective the film will be and with this third entry to the franchise Leigh Whannell takes over directing duties from his now box office superstar buddy Wan which sees him do a more than admirable job.
A long time player in the modern horror scene, Whannell surely knows a thing or two about what freaks us movie goers out and where the first Insidious scared us with its white faced man and then the second got us with its red faced demon, here in the third chapter which is in fact a prequel of sorts to the events of what has transpired before, Whannell creates a figure almost as scary as Jigsaw himself with the "Man that can't breathe". A horrible and off putting creation this figure is a large part of the reason why this entry into the series keeps the chills coming and while Whannell relies on the jump scare and silent soundtrack situation quite a lot to make Insidious scary, there's little denying there's more ingenuity here than most other low budgeted horror flicks.
There's also a surprising amount of heart thrown into the mix here and while it may come off as cheesy and sap-filled, it's nice for a film of this ilk to throw some emotional resonance into an otherwise highly unrealistic scenario of possessed teens and ghost worlds.
While the dialogue can sometimes fall flat and Whannell and Angus Sampson's comical ghost hunters that played large parts in the first films still feel a little out of place, Insidious 3 is a highly watchable and often highly effective piece of horror filmmaking that never tries to outstretch its reach.
After three solid films it feels as though the makers of Insidious know exactly what their films are and what they aren't and we as an audience can be thankful for that and now can look forward to what Whannell and his team have in store for us when chapter 4 hopefully eventuates.
3 footprints out of 5
