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Insidious Chapter 3 – The Rise of Elise Rainier (Movie Review)

Let’s start this one off with act of admission.  Insidious Chapter 3 isn’t exactly going to get any brownie points in the original title category.  That much can be determined without even sitting down to witness the feature.  And unlike the first and second films, this “third” chapter does not follow the timeline nor does it mesh with the conclusion set up in the second installment (although that’s not completely true).  Instead, it’s one of those dreaded prequels!  Boo on that if not done right!  However, let’s not be too hasty and judge a book by its cover.  Every movie is subject to a trial and that’s what we are here today for.  It’s the critic in me versus Insidious Chapter 3.  Who will prevail?  Read on to find out.  Bwahaha…

Like the first two, Insidious Chapter 3 is written by Leigh Whannell, who’s also making his directorial debut here.  Put your hands together for Leigh Whannell, ladies and gentlemen.  Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell and my favorite, Lin Shaye, all reprise their roles here from the previous films.  After all, it’s a prequel.  Why the hell can’t Lin be in it?  She can be in any damn thing she wants, that’s all I have to say.  The fresh faces to this outing include Dermot Mulroney and Stefanie Scott.

So this prequel is set before the haunting of the Lambert family, which we are all familiar with from the first two films, and reveals how psychic Elise Rainier (Shaye) reluctantly agrees to come out of retirement and use her gifts to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl.  We all know why right?  Well this teenager, Quinn Brenner (Scott), has been targeted by a malicious supernatural entity.  Duh!  I can’t believe you didn’t know that.  Haha.  All in all, it’s kind of a repeat of the first one when you think about it because all these spirits really want to do is take over her body.  Foolishly, this girl just thinks they are bad dreams, mommy flashbacks so to speak (the conflict added of dealing with a recently deceased parent in the storyline).  Seen it, been there before, huh?  That’s kind of how I feel.  It was fresh in the first film, but by the third go around the novelty starts to wear off a bit especially when so much time is reinvested explaining what the “further” is.  I understand why we need to rehash, but come on.  Bring on the demons!

If you’re going to see Insidious Chapter 3, then there’s no better place than in the theater for your first time.  I don’t know what’s more entertaining, the movie itself or the scares and screams it elicits from the stereotypical demographics of the moviegoers (you all know well who I am referring to here).  Make no mistake about it, Insidious Chapter 3 only exists to scare more dollars out of you and every chance they get for a “make you jump moment,” they take it!  That being said, cheap scares don’t always go hand and hand with equating to quality in a story.  I enjoy the world of Insidious and allow myself to go under with it so to speak, but I can also see why so many people just don’t like this latest chapter that much.  In my opinion, it’s definitely the weakest of the three.  It’s not the Insidious film we need, but it is the prequel we deserve thanks to the chops of Lin Shaye, who pretty much carries this entire film on her back (in a good way).

Lin Shaye has that charisma or “Magic Touch” as KISS’ Paul Stanley would say.  This franchise has survived this long because of her and I am sure the filmmakers really had to think long and hard about what fate they mapped out for her in Insidious Chapter 2, but thankfully, much akin to the Saw films and their main villain, Jigsaw, Shaye’s character, Elise, has a legacy all her own in this franchise that seemingly will live on forever no matter if the next chapter is a prequel, midquel or sequel.  Much to their credit, the filmmakers have set her up well and I gotta be honest, without her, I don’t think I would go under for a fourth chapter.  Also like Saw, this latest chapter of Insidious, despite it being a prequel, follows closely in its predecessor’s shoes in bringing the events that happen within full circle with the other films.  As a lover of all things continuity, I love that, but it also, like I said up above, means you have to rehash a lot of moments of re-learning the further world, seeing how the ghost hunting team came to be (this part is cool though) and forgo more time that could be spent with the very wicked, malicious and mouth breathing spirit in this one.  Like Darth Maul in the first, this guy was a bad-a$$.  I wanted more scares with him!

Yes, you can say I have a thing for this newest malevolent spirit the team tangles with here.  He’s very cool, but not enough time is spent properly developing him.  I wanted more time in the further with him, but such is life.  Wish in one hand and poop in the other, right?  Correct!  I guess the most disappointing thing here is there’s absolutely nothing new or ambitious.  It’s all about the jump scare moments and little to nothing else development wise.  It’s like a George Lucas prequel, not as good as the original films and we all know what’s going to happen anyway.  I want creepy.  I want tension.  I want more of what the first Insidious provided, chills (there were “Tiptoe Through The Tulip”-like moments here).  Heck, I’ll take more films with Elise in the afterlife working with the team like set up in Chapter 2.  At least that premise is new, unexplored territory.

If you want nothing more than a cheap scare or two and something on par with the previous films, then look no “further” because Insidious Chapter 3 is the scary movie you’re looking for.  If you want more, then don’t hold your breath because I am sure there will be a fourth chapter thanks to the brilliant minds behind this, Leigh Whannell and the master plans laid by Aquaman‘s James Wan (who has a cool cameo in this one).  Despite all of this, I DO look forward to more adventures in the further with Lin Shaye and her hilarious tag team duo.  They are what make this franchise tick and the blast it is despite its shortcomings.  I am confident that there are some creepy tales to tell yet in the further with Elsie in the afterlife.  Let’s get cracking there.  In the meantime, grab your date and have some fun with it all.  There are some sinister moments, creepy looking demons and for the younger crowd and a teenager main protagonist they can hopefully all identify with despite this being before the dawn of iPhones and Android devices.  In other words, flip to text cell phones!  I know!  How ghastly!  Oh my!  Enjoy!

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