Movie Review : Insidious Chapter 3 (2015)

Insidious Chapter 3 is  another fun and scary trip to The Further

Director: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Delmot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Lin Shaye

Studios: Automatik Entertainment, Blumhouse Productions, Entertainment One

Distributed by: Focus Features (USA), Gramercy Pictures (USA), Stage 6 Films (International), Sony Pictures Releasing International (International)

Release Dates: June 5, 2015

Plot: Set years before the haunting of the Lambert, 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. To do this, she must confront her own fears and prepare to go back into The Further to rescue her.

The 80’s gave us Friday The 13^th and Nightmare on Elm Street. The 90’s had the Scream series. The 2000’s had the Saw franchise. Now, my generation, the 2010 onward, we have the Insidious franchise.

So five years after the release of the first Insidious movie, we now have the third installment of the hit franchise. And this time, the most terrifying chapter takes us back to the beginning, says the trailers and posters of this prequel.

The first time I saw Insidious (2010) was when I bought a DVD of it and watched it at home with my sister. At that time, I wasn’t expecting something extraordinary. Because the artwork of the DVD looked so simple and very indie-ish. But then, halfway into the film, I started to experience probably the most terrifying movie that I would watch my entire life. My sister and I were screaming all throughout the film. There was even a point where I fell out of my chair when the red-faced demon popped out of Josh’ (Patrick Wilson) back! So it really put me on the edge of my seat, literally. Since then, I became a huge fan of the Insidious franchise.

So when the sequel, obviously entitled Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) came out, I was totally excited. Still under the helm of James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring) The sequel, was not entirely a letdown. It was good as a horror film. But then, it had me craving for something more.

So now, here comes the third installment, this time helmed by the series creator Leigh Whannell. At first, I was sad that James Wan wont be returning to the director’s seat due to his commitments with The Fast & Furious franchise. But then, we still got Leigh Whannell on board. So this looks interesting. And it turned out that it is.

So now, let me give you my thoughts about this latest installment of the franchise that redefined “horror” for this generation.

A Little Backstory for Elise

So even though Elise (played by the ever lovely Lin Shaye) was already killed off in the end of the first Insidious movie, she was able to go back from the dead as one of the spirits from The Further and helped the Lambert family one last time. And in this prequel which happened before the Lambert hauntings, we are given a backstory for her.

I really liked the fact that Leigh Whannell has finally gave us some background for Elise because her character wasn’t given much information from the first two intallments. Now, in this prequel, we learned that she used to despise her abilities because she was afraid that one of the spirits that she have encountered before will kill her. (I don’t want to spoil who that spirit is but I think you already have an idea, though). She had difficulties convincing herself of using her abilities again to help other people because she fears for her own life too. And that’s understandable. Not all psychics are like the bad-ass Warrens, so I understand how she felt. But then, she realizes that she just cant let these people down, you know. And that she just cant hide inside the darkness of her home hiding from the world because of her fear. So she steps up and faces her own demons to help the main protagonists of the film.

Speaking of which…

Meet The Brenner family

So this prequel shifts the focus from the Lamberts to a new family, The Brenners. Composed of single dad Sean Brenner (played by Delmot Mulroney) with his eldest, Quinn (Stafanie Scott) and his youngest, Alex (Tate Berney), their family lives in an apartment like building to a host of a weird set of neighbors.

First of all, I like the fact that this prequel, though not featuring the Lamberts anymore, still focuses on a family. I think that is what made this franchise a hit. The first two movies were all centered on how the Lamberts overcome the hauntings around them. There is very little blood that is shed in these movies (aside from Elise’ death) which makes it very different from the horror films that we have for this generation. From  Sinister (2011),  Evil Dead (2013),  the Paranormal Activity series, etc. all of these horror films is not complete if they wont kill a character or two. But the Insidious series is different. Instead of focusing on increasing the body count, it focuses on the keeping the family together as they overcome all these happenings around them. It’s solely focused on keeping them alive until the very end. And that is what makes this franchise different and stand out from the others.

That is where writer/ director Leigh Whannell builts the structure of this prequel. It solely is about how the Brenners overcome the hauntings that surrounds them. It does feel very similar to Poltergeist (1982) but then, it’s always been like that, right?

Quinn Brenner is this film’s Dalton Lambert. She first tries to call out to her mother’s spirit. But then, she ends up being the target of an evil one. Just like what Elise said to her, if "you call out to one of the dead, all of them can hear you." So she gets haunted by this really creepy dude with a gas mask on (therefore he gets an appropriate name “The Man Who Cant Breathe”) who wants her soul. This ghoul even makes a carbon copy of her in The Further, minus the feet, fingers and face. I guess he wasn’t finished yet on ‘downloading’ her soul into  their world.

Stefanie Scott is really good in portraying her character. She looked exactly like a teen graduating from high school, giving the film a more realistic feel. I mean, I wouldn’t buy it if they took a much mature actress for the role(which is a problem with films right now). She gives a simple yet believable performance as a girl who just wanted to get out of their place and be free to follow her dreams. And she screams really loud so that’s a plus.

Delmot Mulroney is also a good choice for the role. He plays the part of a single father trying to juggle things around with his hands just to make ends meet. His character, though we might feel like he’s an exact replica of Josh Lambert of the first two movies, has a different persona. He is burdened with the death of his wife, and the responsibility of a single parent. So when the supernatural gets into the scene and wrecks havoc to his family, he really feel like  he wanted to breakdown due to the pressure. This added to the emotional depth of the film, which was somehow missing from the second movie.

Of course, Lin Shaye is always a welcome as the psychic Elise. I’m so happy to finally see her alive again after getting killed in the first film. In this movie though, I must say that she is really more bad ass. Although during the first part of the film, she was this old lady hiding in her dark home who refuses to use her abilities in fear of a spirit who is after her soul, she switches into this really cool psychic when she re-enters The Further. Just like what I said earlier, I really loved the fact that her character was given more depth. The backstory actually gave her a more solid feel. It’s as if we finally met this person whom we’ve been seeing for a few years now.

And I loved her mano-a-mano fight with one of the spirits in The Further. That was just epic.

The Further and it’s Residents

Yes. Another thing that we will never, ever forget with this series is it’s unique setting. Obviously, I’m talking about the spirit world that it has created, named The Further. Though it wasn’t given much information, I still like tackling The Further because we get to meet a lot of unique ghost in here. Remember the doll faced family in the first movie. That was so epic. This time, we met a whole new set of dead people, each have their own characteristics.

One of my favorite was this girl with face at the back of her head. That was so scary and cool at the same time. We also met this girl who was being followed by rain. Then, there’s the main creeper of the film, the one that haunts Quinn Brenner, ‘The Man Who Can’t Breathe’. He looked really creepy, but not as scary as the Bride in Black from the first two films.

But my most favorite among these ghouls is the doppelganger of Quinn in The Further. It was like a copy of her soul. But minus the feet, fingers, and face. It’s like her soul was slowly being downloaded and her copy was still missing some parts.  The first time I saw her, I really freaked out.

More Jumps and Jolts, Some Really Good Scares

I went back and tried to remember the second film as to why I felt like I was craving for more after watching it. And now, I’ve realized why. It was because it was lacking with the jumps and jolts of the first film. I think that was a trademark of this series. And the short number of jumps in the second movie somehow was a bit of a letdown since I was expecting more. I’m not saying it was not good. I liked the second movie, but it left me wanting for more. And this prequel gives me what the series has promised me from the start: non-stop jumps and jolts. It’s not like the lame jumps from the inferior Annabelle (2014) spin-off last year. The scares here are set up in a good way. There’s really suspense that’s built up within the scares. Not just the usual silence-then-BANG kind of jump. And there’s plenty of them. Although none of which was able to re-create the exact same jump that really threw me out of my seat from the first film, this prequel gives the audience a really good time with all the jumps and jolts all throughout the film. Gives us the price of admission worth it.

But aside from the jumps and jolts in the film which is one of it’s strengths, the film is also plenty of scares. Not the cheap one though. The really scary-scare. I really liked how Leigh Whannell infuses suspense and mounting dread with the jumps and scares in a way that one thing wont overcome the other. Everything’s balanced. And that’s a really good thing.

There’s one scene that we have been given a glimpse of in the trailers featuring Quinn being attacked by “The Man Who Can’t Breathe” in her own room. That was one of the most scary parts of the film. It was just so good that I really hated myself for choosing to watch the film alone, while seating on the very front row of the theatre. So to all those people who said that Leigh Whannell can’t do a good job to direct this film, well… f*ck off!

A Fourth Chapter, Perhaps?

Well, the only thing that I wanna ask Director Leigh Whannell is a fourth installment. I am really looking forward to a fourth movie for the Insidious franchise. But I really hope that this time, it will continue where the Lambert’s story ended. With Elise being a ghost in the spirit world rescuing the soul of a girl who was taken captive there. And I really wish that we can get to see the Red Faced Demon as the main antagonist of that chapter, if it were to happen. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

Verdict:

Of course, none of the sequels can surpass the original film which will always stay as a classic for me. But this prequel turned out to be way better than the last sequel, providing us with the jumps and jolts that were lacking in the second installment. It is everything that fans of the series are looking for. And probably so much more. With a much bigger budget, a really good set of actors, a good director, and more jumps and scares than the second movie, Chapter 3 delivers the goods

I give this a rating of 5 stars out of 5.