Insidious: Chapter 3 - A Review

To all who are reading this,

I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to get this post to you, but life has a way of taking its toll. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but lets just say that everything is changing.

I saw this film in the cinema at the suggestion of a friend, and its definitely got its moments. Enough moments to reintroduce this blog with a review!

There may be spoilers... 

[image error] Length: 97 minutes

Release date: 5 June 2015

Synopsis: A prequel set before the haunting of the Lambert family that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.

Genre: Horror

Studio: Automatik Entertainment

Director: Leigh Whannell

Writer: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson

MPA-Rating: 15

Now, I wasn't a fan of Insidious when it first came out. I didn't find it scary, and what was off putting was the camera use. I know it sounds very nitpicking but that's how I felt. So when my friend suggested that we see this, and we looked at it being a prequel, I'll admit that it intrigued me. It sets up the films to follow in their footsteps. It still had a story and I didn't feel like the things had to be shovelled in as proof that this came first. The only thing that is pushed to the forefront is the character Elise, a psychic that appears in Insidious (2010) and Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013). However, this is needed, as this review shows.

The film revolves around teenage Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) who is trying to contact her mother, who has died prior to the film. She visits retired psychic, Elise, (Lin Shaye), and asks for her help. Quinn explains that she can almost feel her near, and that she has already tried contacting her on her own. Elise is reluctant to help, and when she finally does, she stops the reading after hearing a voice telling her that she will be killed. Quinn returns home where she continues with her life - looking after her younger brother and preparing an audition for a prestigious stage school. All the while hearing eerie noises at night. Things get stranger still at the actual audition, where a figure waves to her, causing Quinn to lose track of her lines, blowing her chance. 

That evening, whilst out with a friend, Quinn sees the same figure waving in the middle of the road. She is so distracted by this that a car hits her, leaving her with two broken legs. Quinn lies in bed later that night, and hears a knocking to which she responds, believing it to be her neighbour. The neighbour reveals that he isn't in the house, and the bedside bell that Quinn's father (Dermot Mulroney) has left for her rings. And she isn't the one ringing it.

And this is just the start of the paranormal adventure and Elise's journey into the world of the Insidious franchise. 

One of the main sets used is Quinn's bedroom. In the light, it seems typically teenage, with its posters, stickers, and memorabilia scattered around - noticeably, "VANS OFF THE WALL", the skate shoe company. In the dark though, the light curtains and stylish art deco headboard are used to throw light and shadows around, especially when the supernatural visitor starts to arrive.

The apartment complex where Quinn and her family live looks typically American - tall, foreboding, and perhaps a little crumpling around the edges. It routes us in reality with the hauntings that are going on, showing us perhaps that we cannot escape any ghost that chooses us to haunt. If we believe in such things.

But does it have the scare factor? It definitely made me jump several times, but these are moments where you are not expecting them to happen. The villains of the piece, as there are seemingly two, work well - both haunting and terrifying in their own right. The Man Who Can't Breathe is a twisted character, and yes, the Bride in Black is back. Well, if we watch this first and then watch the rest of the series, it's the first time she appears, but you get the idea!

As a prequel, it works, but I guess there are problems here. Although Quinn's family is the new addition, she is quite hipster, in how she takes a photo of her breakfast to post to her blog. I didn't feel this scene was needed - are we supposed to like and connect with her because of this?

Overall, it's a film that works as a prequel, but to me, isn't horror enough to satisfy my cravings to make me jump completely out of my skin.

Have you seen the film? What do you think to it?



Yours, with eternal ink,

Zoe

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Currently reading: Darker by Trina M. Lee (eBook)