Insidious: Chapter 3 Review

This was a movie that I wasn't too excited for. The first Insidious was a really good horror film, one of the best in recent years. I also quite enjoyed the second one; it wasn't all that scary, but I was fully invested in the story and thought the writing was rather clever. That being said, I thought they should have quit while they were ahead. As a general rule of thumb, horror franchises get worse as they go. Insidious: Chapter 3 was a great surprise to me, however. It was a worthy prequel that not only succeeded on its own, but also satisfyingly tied itself into the previous two films without feeling forced.

The Insidious films' most prominent level of entertainment comes from its world-building, and the genuinely disturbing possibilities that come from it. They've never relied too heavily on jump scares like most modern horror films do, but rather they leave you feeling uneasy, even frightened by things that get under your skin rather than make you jump. The third chapter continues down this path with a thoroughly unsettling installment that's probably better than the second one.

I was surprised by how good the cast in this movie was. No one is going to win an Oscar, but the performances were solid, especially by horror movie standards. I enjoyed the relationship that was set up between the main character, Quinn, and her father, played by Stefanie Scott and Dermot Mulroney respectively. It felt a little cliched at times, but the two had more chemistry than most horror movie parent-child relationships do.

I also liked Lin Shaye, who is reprising her role from the first two films as the psychic Elise Rainier. She was always really good at doing the creepy old lady act, but she actually gets a chance to show some of her other acting abilities in this one. By the end, she was basically the main character that everyone was rooting for, which I didn't expect.

James Wan, who directed the previous two films in the franchise as well as the excellent haunted house flick The Conjuring let go of the franchise reigns and lent them to longtime co-writer Leigh Whannell. I was a little apprehensive about this since Wan has made some really impressive scary movies, but Whannell does a surprisingly great job. There was a consistently eerie atmosphere that left me squirming in my seat, and there were also some genuinely dark and disturbing images. I would say this is probably the darkest chapter in the series yet, as the advertisements promised.

I did have a few problems with the film. The most prominent one that stuck with me was the fact that there were small portions of the movie that felt wholly out of place. There were times when it almost felt like the movie was trying to be a parody of a horror movie. Contrast that with what I previously mentioned about it being the darkest Insidious film yet, and you get a rather uneven tone that occasionally took me out of the movie.

For the most part, though, this was a solid horror flick that exceeds rational expectations for a third installment in a scary movie franchise. It wasn't groundbreaking, but in a time where so many horror movies feel head-bangingly uninspired, it's a welcome surprise. Definitely worth seeing for horror fans and fans of the franchise.

B