Insidious: Chapter 3

The "Insidious" franchise has gone through some lengths to rejuvenate old-fashioned spook. The first movie was a surprise hit, giving the audience back their interests in horror movies to come. The second one worked sporadically with critics but still kept audiences wanting for more. And now, here comes another sequel (I meant prequel). Will it pay off? Maybe.

Quinn Renner (Scott) is a young woman seeking a clairvoyant to contact her deceased mother. She calls up to Elise Rainer (Shaye), who informs her that she may have been contacted with an evil spirit who will take her soul. Slowly, Quinn starts to have scary occurrences. And it's up to Elise if she can help her or not.

From the first scene, I can sense something different this movie will be heading. Even though there's jump scares aplenty, most of them doesn't pack a punch like its' previous movies. But, Whannell has a way to orchestrate frightening and rich atmosphere, that almost cover all the flaws.

Back to that something different, it is the emotional undercurrent that stood out, talking about grief and coping from it, while limited. It is something the first two didn't really tell.

The actors and actresses has done a great job. But, the real thing is Lin Shaye. She is a revelation. Her range as an actress can be seen solely from this movie. She makes you root for her, care for her, even laugh with her. When the movie starts to fumble, she holds it from falling apart, avoiding clichés and conventionality. A plus one for that than just being a good film.

If you're looking for the same intensity from the first two, you'll most likely will be disappointed. But, if you're looking for not just the scares, you'll get something more than most horror movies.

7/10... bumped up to 8/10 for Lin Shaye.

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

Just watch this movie today on 5/6/2015 in my country Malaysia and what I gonna say is its the best INSIDIOUS ever! From the beginning I can sense something different from this movie, like always, filmmaker trying their best to running away from cliché but what about cliché that's still gonna work forever? That's it! Leigh Whannel as a scriptwriter, director and actor knows this best! I can place him as one of the greatest modern storyteller since Jonathan Nolan! You know it will come when there is no sound at all, every time.... and I'm glad because I'm not the only one who shocked in the cinema, the whole audience shocked and I'm afraid if one of them might get heart attack from this movie! Hardcore critics like always criticizing down this movie like this is one of Hammer movie but audience will prove you that they get what they want, to feel afraid, to feel worried, suspense and every negative thinking and that's it! Like I always said in all my previous review, "if that movie's genre is horror and it do make us feel horrified, so it's works. Same for other genre too." Its fun, contain some laughable comedy, make us jump a lot. Just watch this. Don't think anything anymore. For now, this the best INSIDIOUS ever! Sorry for my bad English!

Not a terrible movie by any stretch of the imagination, but sadly nowhere near the standard of the first two Insidious movies. I found the characters pretty flat and uninteresting and the story less imaginative than the previous installments.

That said, as a stand alone it's not a bad horror film, especially considering it was a first attempt at directing by the guy who usually does the screenplay. I will admit to jumping out of my seat on more than one occasion whilst watching. It certainly doesn't lack in scares, what it does lack is depth, there isn't enough going on between the "jumps". By all means, go and see this film, just don't expect it to match the brilliance of the first two.

I am going to be completely honest with you guys, I have never seen Insidious or its sequel. I saw this film today because i needed to pass some time and i couldn't be bothered to wait an extra half an hour to see San Andreas. I've heard that the others in the series are good films but i am not a huge fan of modern horror and prefer the 70s/80s vibe that we got with It Follows. Insidious Chapter 3 doesn't have that vibe, but it is still a lot better than most modern horror today and i found enjoyment out of it. I was also pleased that this film was a prequel because i had no trouble following the plot.

Going straight into it, the film follows a young girl called Quinn who is trying to reconnect to her deceased mother and visits a retired psychic. The encounter however leaves her with something else, instead of her mother trying to contact her like she first thought, something much more sinister approaches her and with the help from her father, the psychic and for some reason a couple of ghost hunters from the internet (really?!) They try to rid the evil from her. It sounds pretty basic and for the most part it is, but when it all wraps up the story between Quinn and her mother is surprisingly sentimental for a horror film and leaves quite an impact afterwards which is something i don't experience much with horror. This is a concept that an earlier horror film this year, The Woman In Black: Angel of Death, had the potential to do but ultimately failed. The way it is executed here is much better and that was really nice to see because it could have easily been another crappy modern horror prequel like Annabelle.

As for the horror itself? I can safely say it is one of the scariest horrors I've seen for a while. Like i mentioned, i'm not sure how scary the others are but this one will have anyone feeling unsettled at points and even made me jump out of my seat a few times, which was good because jump scares rarely have that effect on me. I think it worked with Insidious Chapter 3 because of the tense feel throughout and the fact that it doesn't throw one at you every couple of minutes that go by. It took a little bit of time for the movie to actually become interesting, but when it did it was enough to keep me entertained for the duration, which was all i wanted to be honest. I don't know any of the cast members from anything prior to this, but they were pretty 50/50 to me. The actresses who play Quinn and the psychic were very good whereas the father and the two ghost hunters were kinda awkward to watch. Was that enough to make this a bad movie? No, because it was not one.

all-in-all Insidious chapter 3 is an entertaining and tense film which is the right blend of jump scares and atmosphere, still not my favourite horror of the year (that goes to It Follows) but i enjoyed it more than Unfriended and The Woman in Black and liked the emotional twist it gave us. My biggest complaint is the cop-out ending. I don't know why horror films these days insist on having an ending where a mysterious figure pops up at you and screams because it doesn't look good it feels tacky and takes the atmosphere away from the film which is the number one complaint i have for Unfriended. But it didn't completely ruin the film for me and i think if i had seen the others i would understand what was happening so maybe i don't like it here for that reason. It kept me intrigued and made me want to watch the previous two, which is perfect being a prequel and all, so that is just what i will do.