Insidious Chapter 3 (2015) Movie Review
Written By: JASR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Leigh Whannell
Producers: Jason Blum, Oren Peli, James Wan
Writer: Leigh Whannell
Date Released: June 5, 2015 (USA)
Cast:
Stefanie Scott as Quinn Brenner
Dermot Mulroney as Sean Brenner
Lin Shaye as Elise Rainier
Angus Sampson as Tucker
Leigh Whannell as Specs
Hayley Kiyoko as Maggie
Tate Berney as Alex Brenner
Michael Reid MacKay as “The Man Who Can’t Breathe”
Tom Gallop as Dr. Henderson
Steve Coulter as Carl
Ele Keats as Lily Brenner
Rating = 2.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) occurs a few years before the events of the first movie. Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) visits Elise (Lin Shaye), asking her for help in contacting her deceased mother, Lily (Ele Keats). After trying to do so, Elise tells Quinn not to try to contact her mother on her own anymore. Elise explains that calling out to one of the dead allows all the others to hear you.
Quinn later gets hit by a car after auditioning for a performing arts school – breaking her legs. At home, Quinn starts experiencing paranormal phenomena. Elise, who initially refused to use her spiritual ability to help Quinn, later becomes convinced to do so. Elise starts teaming up with Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), whom we also saw in the first two movies. They work to help defeat “The Man Who Can’t Breathe” (Michael Reid MacKay) who has been trying to come for Quinn.
Gore Factor
This film would not be the first choice of gore lovers since it does not have that much gore. Quinn’s sudden car accident is quite visual and disturbing, but we don’t see that much blood. Elise’s scenes in The Further are also unsettling – particularly her struggles with the Bride in Black and “The Man Who Can’t Breathe.” However, I would say that those scenes fit more under the creepy category than the gory one.
The Grave Review
The first two Insidious movies are by far the creepiest and one of the best-written horror movies I’ve ever seen, which is why Insidious: Chapter 3 turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I find that quite strange since Leigh Whannell is still the writer. I wouldn’t say that it is a bad movie, but if you’ve seen Insidious (2010) and Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), you would expect all their successors to be just as good. If anything, Insidious: Chapter 3 is a typical horror movie.
What I like about this movie is how it shows elements that acknowledge the first two films. Since the events of this movie occurred years before those of the first film, we see how Elise started working with Specs and Tucker – even the part where she teases them to dress better. In this movie, Elise also says that an entity will kill her if she continues with this work – something that happened in the first movie. We even see a clue of how she dies. We also hear about Josh Lambert whom we saw Elise help in the first two films. These scenes are a great nudge to those who have seen Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2 – something I always love seeing.
While Insidious: Chapter 3 has some pretty notable jump scares, it’s sad that the movie itself may appear basic to those who have seen the first two installments. I’m not too sure if it’s because of the writing or the direction, but this is the kind of movie that you can easily forget once the credits begin to roll. I feel like the end of the movie focused too much on the love between Quinn and her mother that it failed to give us the creeps that we’ve been waiting for the whole time.
In all fairness, Insidious: Chapter 3 was scary in its own way. The first two installments just raised the bar too high, making the third one too basic.
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