By Amy West
Director: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Stefanie Scott, Lin Shaye, Dermot Mulroney, Leigh Whannell, and Angus Sampson
Running time: 97 minutes
Rating: 15
Release date: 5th June 2015
Writer Leigh Whannell returns to the frightening franchise once again for the third installment of the INSIDIOUS movies. This time making his directorial debut as he replaces James Wan (only acting as producer this time round), for CHAPTER 3.
Set three years before the events of the first film, CHAPTER 3 abandons its original characters (for the most part), and focuses on teenager Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) who finds herself tormented by an ominous presence, after a failed attempt to contact her mother, who died a year previous from breast cancer.
In a very loose attempt to tie it in to the previous movies, Quinn pays a visit to psychic and clairvoyant Elise Rainier, who despite telling her that she doesn’t dabble in talking to the dead anymore multiple times, on hearing the young girl’s emotional plight, agrees to an impromptu séance calling out to those who have passed on.
But as you can expect, the brief crossover soon turns dark and Elise then urges Quinn to stop trying to talk to her mother’s spirit, because in true horror movie style, “if you call out to one of the dead, all of them can hear you.” Medium-speak for ‘there are some ghosts that you just don’t want to mess with’.
Of course, it would be a rather short film if the action stopped there and it’s not long before Quinn defies Elise’s orders and starts mumbling into the air in the hope that her mother will speak back to her. But unsurprisingly, it’s not her mother whispering to her through the air vents in her bedroom and rapping little ditties on her wall at night.
Lin Shaye reprising her role as Elise is one of the film’s saving graces and her personal storyline allows audiences to see those genius moments from screenwriter Whannell that were ever so present in INSIDIOUS and CHAPTER TWO. Whilst Elise was a character present in both movies, we knew very little about her and here we finally get an insight into her past and why she’s so determined to help people with paranormal pesterers.
For a woman that is so strong, and so often seen as the hero-type figure within the franchise, it’s interesting to see a vulnerable side to her. The idea that she’s dealing with the heartbreaking fact that her husband took his own life – especially considering her profession – presents a really grounding subject for her character and explains her interest in the afterlife understandably. Sadly, not one other character in the film gets any kind of fictional arc that mirrors hers.
Despite being relatively basic and predictable at times, aspects of the plot are great propellers for more sinister scares. As anyone who has seen any of the promotional material for CHAPTER 3, you’ll know that Quinn spends a significant amount of the movie bed-bound with two broken legs and a neck brace.
Being plagued by a creepy demon is one thing, but when you add in the fact that you can’t run away or fight it off – the concept is truly terrifying. The Brenner’s also live in an apartment block who’s décor can’t help but make you think of The Overlook Hotel, which also adds to the eerie factor.
Whilst there are little gems of brilliance in the story, the huge gaps in explanation for most of the film’s events hinder its effectiveness greatly. It’s mentioned early on that Quinn so desperately wants to be an actress – a notion that is never mentioned again once the hauntings begin.
There’s also the boy-next-door character who constantly gets dropped into conversation as being “in love” with Quinn. Something that additionally never gets touched upon once all the scary things start happening.
Similarly, as INSIDIOUS had Lipstick-Face Demon (the official name of that Darth Maul-looking guy that stuck in everyone’s memories for weeks afterwards), and CHAPTER TWO had The Bride In Black, CHAPTER 3 has it’s own villain, The Man Who Can’t Breathe. Why can’t he breathe, you ask? Well, good luck finding out because the movie sure as hell won’t tell you.
When INSIDIOUS came out in 2010, it seemed to mark an impressive turning point in horror cinema; a genre that prior to it, had been inundated with eye-straining found-footage movies and gory bloodbath flicks. It delivered a movie that not only had a solid plot with compelling characters you felt connected to and most importantly, it was well acted across its entire cast.
On top of that, it’s understandable why the filmmaking duo wanted to revisit the series for number three given that CHAPTER 2 was an extremely well put-together follow-up to the first film. It not only had a new story of it’s own and featured all of the original stellar cast, it pieced all of the events in the original so well that it almost felt like you were watching an extended cut rather than the next chapter– a success that is incredibly rare when it comes to horror sequels.
Horror prequels are another thing entirely, however. They don’t tend to work so well in the genre as whenever the tension starts to build and a certain character is in danger, chances are you know their fate already. Although seeing as the franchise relies more on shock scares than body counts, it’s not so much of a concern if you know someone isn’t going to die at a particular frightening moment.
Unfortunately despite it’s valiant efforts, CHAPTER 3 ultimately comes off feeling generic, almost completely void of the unique spark that made movies one and two so great. Chronologically, there’s no need to see the other two before you see this one, and in a sense it’s probably best that you don’t, to avoid comparison – as this one certainly doesn’t fare as well.
It relies too heavily on all the typical traits of cheesy horror movies, which its predecessors never did. Timidly looking under the bed, setting up night-vision cameras, the fact that the horror only occurs at night, turning the lights off when your friend on Skype has just told you there’s someone standing next to you? It’s all there – and it’s a shame considering how anti-trope the first two films were.
There’s no doubt that if Shaye hadn’t made a comeback, it would just be another scary movie that only has cheap shocks and a mildly-entertaining yet forgettable storyline on offer. Whilst the jumps are fun, with a serious lack of substance, they soon get old.
Verdict:
