By: James Southworth
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Making a horror franchise has proven, time and time again, to be a very tricky endeavor for any creator. Oftentimes the first one in the series is a beloved classic and put in pretty high standards. After that, the sequels often will pale in comparison or even be downright terrible. In my opinion, that has never been the case for the Insidious series. In fact, while I love the first one and recognize how great it is, the the second movie of the series is actually my favorite. Even though there are some horror cliches and some moments in this series overall that don't work, I still find the Insidious movies to be legitimately frightening while also boasting great acting and interesting lore in The Further. It's also not often that a horror franchise can be capably led by a 70-year old woman, but Lin Shaye as Elise is what makes these movies work so well. "Insidious: The Last Key" centers more around Elise this time around, having her finding demons at a place that is scary for more reason than one reason: in her childhood home.
I'll admit, I was a little concerned going into this movie that I wasn't going to like it. Insidious 3, while not a bad film by any means, still showed some noticeable signs of weakness since James Wan wasn't at the helm of it. This one is directed by Adam Robitel, who I'd never heard of before. Thankfully, my fears of this movie being bad were diminished pretty quickly with the film's cold open. We see an emotionally gripping scene of Elise's rough childhood home life with her abusive father. She and her brother are both clearly scarred by it, with the only person they can turn to being their mother. Let me just say, these beginning moments are honestly some of the best of the film. There is a chilling feeling of dread with the buildup to Elise's first meeting of Keyface (the main demon of this film), and the payoff is actually well worth it. This beginning scene cleverly establishes what the main theme of this movie is: trying to face and let go of the real demons that haunt your past. We have seen in the previous Insidious movies how vulnerable Elise is to The Further because of how connected she is to it. But we've never really seen her be scared of the real world. In this film, she is, and I thought that was a very interesting twist on the franchise. Sure, there are moments that take place in The Further, but there are actually far more of Elise facing real life events. The feeling of fear is still there, but in an entirely different way from the rest of the Insidious movies. I won't say that this film is scarier than any of the others, but I think that the new feeling of fear it offers is very interesting. The change in tone in this film is easily the best part of it, and one of the biggest reasons why it works so well. Most of the scares in this film work well. There are a few false jump scares, but not enough to deter from the ones where there is something actually frightening on the other side. Keyface himself is a legitimately creepy site to behold, with a good combination of practical effects and CGI.
The acting side of this film is a bit of a mixed bag. Lin Shaye holds this film together almost entirely on her own. Elise is one of the most compelling characters I've seen in any horror movie. I like how dynamically she's grown from the first film. She's turned from this mysterious character who can connect with the spiritual realm to now a character that the audience can connect with and understand. There was not one moment in this movie where I didn't believe Shaye's performance. She turns Elise into an entirely sympathetic and likeable character, giving her vulnerability and strength. She's a truly multi-faceted character in this film, and I liked following her here. I also thought Bruce Davison gave an understated performance as Elise's brother Christian. This role was a supporting role in every sense of the word, but Davison really gave it his all. I could feel the history between these two characters, and it made me root for them and want them to reconcile. Kirk Avecado had another small role as Ted, but I also enjoyed his performance. Sadly, the rest of these performances are unmemorable and can verge on being cringeworthy at times. I've liked both Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson in the past as the comedic brothers Specs and Tucker. The key to their characters working, though, is that they were used sparingly. Their jokes were quick and not ever the focus of the movie. In this film, it seems like all these brothers are doing is joking, and oftentimes, the jokes here are bad. The audience I watched this film with only softly laughed a few times; the rest of the time the jokes came across as forced and awkward. I would've preferred a little less of them and maybe more of an exploration of the relationship between Elise and Christian. I also thought Kaitlin Gerard and Spencer Locke didn't really offer that much as Christian's daughters Imogen and Melissa. Their performances were entirely unmemorable, and honestly nothing about the film's plot would've changed if they weren't there. If there were other problems I had with this movie, it would be that especially in its middle half, it really comes to a screeching halt. I think this movie could've actually been shortened a little bit, or there could've been more exploration of scares.
Even with the problems I have with this film, I still can say that I definitely enjoyed "Insidious: The Last Key". Is it a great movie? No, not really. Is it the best in the franchise? Not many any means, in fact it's probably the weakest. But, in a franchise that has been very consistent, even the weakest of the films is still better than most run of the mill horror movies. What really helps this movie more than anything is its surprisingly emotional story line as well as Lin Shaye giving an absolutely incredible performance that shouldn't go unnoticed. If you want to watch a horror movie that will scare you as well as make you think, this one is not a bad choice!
No comments:
Post a Comment