Insidious: Chapter 3 – Movie Review

“Insidious” series writer Leigh Whannell makes his directorial debut with “Insidious: Chapter 3” after James Wan went off to make a little film called “Furious 7”. The first “Insidious” was a solid horror film that took many by surprise, but the “Chapter: 2” felt like it was just going through the motions. It was evident that Wan’s heart just wasn’t in the follow-up. I honestly didn’t expect much from the third film which is actually a prequel. I just thought it would be more of the same, and it is, but this time it actually delivers the scares.

A few years prior to the events in the first film, the Brenner family gets a visit from a very dangerous demon from the future. Quinn (Stefanie Scott) has her heart set on going to theater school in New York. Her father Sean (Dermot Mulroney) wants her to stay home in Los Angeles and help take care of her little brother Alex (Tate Berney). Aside from wanting to go away to school, Quinn is also having a hard time letting go of her mother who died of cancer.

Lin Shaye returns as psychic Elise Rainer, the psychic from the first two films. Also back are Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (writer/director Leigh Whannell). In one of the film’s most interesting elements, we get to see how the three wound up working together. Quinn has reached out to Elise for help contacting her mother, and of course, no good comes out of that. Instead of getting a hold of mommy, Quinn gets a nasty demon attached to her and things go downhill from there.

Story wise, “Insidious: Chapter 3” offers hardly anything new, but it is definitely much scarier than not only the “Chapter 2” but also the remake of “Poltergeist” which was released a few weeks ago. Those who are fans of the franchise should be quite satisfied with this latest chapter.

By: Marc Ferman