Insidious: Chapter 3
Dir: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Tate Berney, Angus
Sampson, Leigh Whannell, and Lin Shaye
A psychic struggling with the responsibility of her gift
tells a teenager that when you call out to the dead, you are calling out to all
of them. Recently this sort of setup establishes every camera movement,
adjustment in sound, positioned prop, foggy set, and lighting manipulation as a
tool to build an uneasy sensation just before a big scare scene. While many
horror films fall guilty to familiar and predictable jump scares, including
“Insidious: Chapter 3”, this film utilizes the frights in far more subtle and
effective way. Director Leigh Whannell directs much like he writes - quick and
succinct. This makes “Insidious: Chapter 3” move with a swift and systematic
pace. While this doesn’t always help in making the film as terrifying as the
first film in the franchise, it does give this third chapter the quality it
seems to be aiming for, which is the benefit of a safe scare that lingers just
as quickly as it appeared.
This film happens a few years before the haunting of the
Lambert family from the first “Insidious”. A young girl named Quinn (Stefanie
Scott) has recently lost her mother to cancer and is struggling to find some
connection to her. Quinn locates retired psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), who
is a shell of the confident and glowing woman she portrayed in the first two
films because she is devastated by the loss of her husband. Elise tells Quinn
that she cannot help her and warns her to be careful about reaching out to the dead.
Elise begins to experience bizarre occurrences, black tar stained footprints
appear, loud knocking noises wake her, and images of a man in a breathing mask
stalk her. Elise realizes through a vision that Quinn is in terrible danger,
and that she is the only one who can help her.
Employing the prequel scenario is a familiar setup in horror
films; especially those that try to maintain the longevity of a franchise. The
first “Insidious” was a unique experience because it accomplished what many
ghost and haunting stories seemed to have difficulty accomplishing, which was actually
being scary. Director James Wan has become a staple of creepy horror films, recently
moving on to another franchise with “Furious Seven” and this week being
attached to the comic book adaptation of “Aquaman”. Wan’s longtime writing
partner Leigh Whannell, who wrote all the “Insidious” films and the first three
“Saw” films, has taken over the reins of “Insidious” and has guided it back
from the strayed path “Insidious: Chapter 2” took. Instead of continuing the
story with the Lambert family, Whannell takes the best parts from the first two
films and puts them in focus here. Lin Shaye is given a leading role and she
owns every moment on screen. This time we find her broken, afraid, and alone,
not at all confident of her abilities. Shaye’s transition into the authoritative
force is well accomplished, even giving her character a cheer worthy moment of defiance.
The ghost-busting boys, Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), from
the Spectral Sightings team are back to offer moments of comedic relief between
scares, a nice blindsiding effect. And an old friend from the past films makes
a jolting appearance as well.
While it’s no fault of this third chapter, the “Insidious”
films have established a blueprint for how they like to scare you, which
unfortunately makes the frightening qualities here have a lessoned effect. The
film again focuses on a family and how the wounds of the past make them
susceptible to dark forces. While “Insidious: Chapter 2” felt like a hurried
effort from the beginning, continuing the story with the Lamberts into clichéd
and particularly un-scary places, “Insidious: Chapter 3” takes the best
characters and scare designs from the previous films and makes a film that
stands on its own.
Monte’s Rating
3.00 out of 5.00
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