It is a prequel to the first two films and the third installment in the “Insidious” film series. Our J.P. has his frightening take on the latest chapter starring Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, and Lin Shaye.
INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3
Gramercy Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 97 minutes
Director / Writer: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Hayley Kiyoko, Lin Shaye
Studio Synopsis:
The darkest Insidious chapter plunges audiences back into the otherworldly realm The Further, revealing how Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) first braved it in her fight to save a young woman from demonic possession. Insidious: Chapter 3, the new movie in the terrifying horror series, is written and directed by franchise co-creator Leigh Whannell. The film is set years before the haunting of the Lambert family, and Elise’s battles with spirits from The Further, in Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2. In the prequel, teenaged aspiring actress Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) senses that her late mother is trying to contact her, and seeks out a gifted psychic – Elise.
Elise feels protective of sensitive Quinn, but tragedy in Elise’s past has left her reluctant to use her abilities. Soon a shocking accident leaves Quinn recuperating at home, as her widowed father Sean (Dermot Mulroney) struggles to hold his family together. Then Quinn is attacked in her bedroom by a malevolent supernatural entity, and Sean pleads with Elise to help. Wrestling with her faith and sense of purpose, Elise summons her powers to contact the dead – with support from two new acquaintances, unlicensed parapsychologists Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh Whannell).
Forced to venture deep into The Further to protect Quinn, Elise soon finds herself facing off against the most ruthless enemy she has ever encountered: a demon with an insatiable craving for human souls.
A Gramercy Pictures presentation in association with Stage 6 Films of an Entertainment One presentation. A Blumhouse Production. An Oren Peli Production.Insidious: Chapter 3. Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, and Lin Shaye. Casting by Terri Taylor, CSA. Costume Designer, Ariyela Wald-Cohain. Music by Joseph Bishara. Edited by Tim Alverson, ACE. Production Designer, Jennifer Spence. Director of Photography, Brian Pearson, ASC. Executive Producers, Steven Schneider, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Charles Layton, Peter Schlessel, Lia Buman, Xavier Marchand. Produced by Jason Blum, p.g.a., Oren Peli, James Wan. Based on characters created by Leigh Whannell. Written and Directed by Leigh Whannell. A Gramercy Pictures Release.
J.P.’s Take:
“Insidious: Chapter 3” is the type of no frills, cheap thrills creep show that doesn’t rely on a blood bath to frighten viewers. It accomplishes that through good ole fashion — well timed — gotcha moments and things that go bump in the night. You throw in a demonic force, some mystery and suspense, stir and serve up on the big screen. Yet, these creep fests almost always have an emotional tie-in in order to lure its audience.
Here you have a seemingly normal teenaged girl named Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott), who worries about her future and misses her deceased mother. Haunted by the unexplained activities that go on in her home, she believes it to be her mother Lilith Brenner (Ele Keats) reaching out to her from beyond the grave. Determined to find the truth, she enlists the aid of a heralded psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), who delves head long into finding the truth of the matter. You know what happens when you dabble in the paranormal; life will never be the same. Yet, we — the viewers — can understand her plea, when you love someone that much you’ll do anything to get in touch with them again.
Elise knows the dangers of traveling to the life hereafter and is reluctant to help Quinn. However, I find it disturbing when someone like Elise decides to open the door to hell knowing what the after affects will be. And, of course. the inevitable happens ~ the door is pushed wide open and can not be closed as easily. Quinn’s circumstances now become nightmarish after while.
As Chapter 3 is the prequel to “Insidious 1 & 2,” we’re let in on how the ball got rolling in the first place. We discover Elise’s past in the process; learning how she had to face her fears as well. There are connecting characters, one of the paranormal kind. The Bride in Black (Tom Fitzpatrick) is seen through out the first “Insidious” films and is a catalyst for Elise’s continued battle against the dark forces of evil. Offering reinforcements to Elise are the paranormal investigative duo Specs (Leigh Whannell, who makes his directorial debut with “Chapter 3”) and Tucker (Angus Sampson, “Mad Max: Fury Road”) from the fictitious TV series “Spectral Sightings,” also found in the first two “Insidious” movies.
I must admit Chapter 3 had me going on more than one occasion. It has all the makings of a classic fright fest. We’re first made to feel for the characters. Sean Brenner (Dermot Mulroney) is a hard working single father, overwhelmed with the duties of raising two kids by himself. His son Alex Brenner (Tate Berney) is the typical youngster, yet he feels out of touch with his daughter Quinn. It then builds on a mystery as we’re left with questions of what was brought into the world of the living. Suspense kicks in where we’re dragged kicking and screaming into the eerie nightmare that Quinn is trapped in. The moments leading up to her capture will leave you uneasy and alarmingly anxious.
While James Wan kicked off the first two “insidious” outings, writer/director Whannell does a fine job of helming this well timed, if slightly predictable 3rd ghostly event.
My guest and I found one particular set up to be quite alarming and pretty effective. One morning Quinn decides to skip school to try out for an audition at a prestigious acting school. She enters the stage to get ready to recite her lines, when she spots someone off stage waving at her in the shadows. Thinking nothing of it, nervously, she proceeds to give her performance. With the producers watching on, she stumbles through her audition to no avail. Later that night she laments to her best friend Maggie (Hayley Kiyoko), while the two are sitting on a curbside, about how she’ll never make it to Broadway at this point. What happens in the next instant gives us all a good shock. As the two of them leave for home, Quinn sees someone standing in the street. The same man who was waving at her from backstage was in the distance waving at her again. No sooner than she turns to leave – BOOM! – she’s struck by a car. All we heard were nothing but shrieks and gasps, as the audience was literally sitting on edge. My heart raced like a track star, even my hands became sweaty. Me, being a horror movie nut, this usually doesn’t happen very often. The creep factor grows exponentially from there. After Quinn recovers from her near death experience, she is allowed to go home for the rest of her recovery. Little does she realize she’ll never be able to rest easy, as that waving specter, who is named “the man who can’t breathe” (Michael Reid MacKay) returns. His menacing presence is felt once again this time in Quinn’s room. It’s that kind of invasion of personal space that really gets your hair standing on end. And once you witness he ominous capabilities, it will leave a stain on the brain.
“Insidious: Chapter 3” doesn’t maintain this atmosphere for very long, as you start to get a since of ease. The knocks and bumps and deploying of scary faces all become tolerable after while. It all ends on a sunny note – or so we think. Just when you thought things had quieted down, we’re treated to one last fright at the very last minutes. Yes, “Insidious Chapter 3” clears up some questions about the first two films. Yes, it dishes out some nice hair raising scares. Yet, it felt slightly anti-climactic to some degree. I didn’t hate this movie, nor did I feel I had to watch it again too soon. But it was a nice quick creep out for the time being.