The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMovie reviews

Insidious: Chapter 3

Insidious: Chapter 3 | Movie review
5 June 2015
Thomas Jordan
Avatar
Thomas Jordan
5 June 2015

Movie and show review

Thomas Jordan

Insidious: Chapter 3

★★★★★

Release date

5th June 2015

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

If sequels are often disappointing and financially motivated, then prequels – as Leigh Whannel’s Insidious: Chapter 3 is – are even more so. Yet, in a movie series like the Insidious franchise, it rarely matters to the viewer. This is straightforward, cheap horror and it is done undeniably well.dgw

There can be little commendation for the film’s hope of being original. With Quinn Brenner’s attempts to contact her dead mother and the subsequent attacks on the teenage girl by an evil entity of the dead, the script abounds with the most cringe-worthy of clichés: “Not today!”, ripostes psychic heroine Elise when told by a demon that it will take her life, provoking fond yet untimely memories of Buzz Lightyear. We are also treated to several exasperatingly sentimental plot changes, whilst much of the characterisation could almost have been taken from a “how-to-make-your-very-own-horror-movie” tutorial. Consequently, the concept of this prelude to the Insidious cycle is lacking in any legitimate psychological terror for the audience. Insidious: Chapter 3 just isn’t…insidious.

What Whannel does attain, though, is the scare factor. In playing Elise, Lin Shaye’s valiant attempts to implant genuine trauma in the mind of the viewer are not supported by the rest of the cast, or by the core hypothesis of the film. Ultimately, they are overshadowed by some simple but effective terror tactics. Tension is slowly built until some sort of horrifying demon-cum-ghost suddenly appears on screen, accompanied by an ear-splitting range of sound effects. The usual tell-tale signs are present: a vulnerable character left alone, the emergence of an eerie string soundtrack, and a suspicious lack of action on camera. Yet, despite their predictable nature, these scenes rarely fail to incite an abrupt jolt of shock and a quickened heartbeat: you know it’s coming every time, but it still always gets you.

The greatest horror movies in the history of cinema – think The Shining, Pyscho and The Exorcist – have been psychological thrillers with harrowing stories that invaded the minds of those who dared to watch. Insidious: Chapter 3 never threatens to achieve this, but then perhaps it isn’t meant to. Its aim is to frighten and shock, rather than traumatise and disturb, and, although this prevents it from being regarded as high-class cinema, it comfortably accomplishes the simple objectives of modern blockbuster horror.

★★★★★

TJ Jordan

Insidious: Chapter 3 is released nationwide on 5th June 2015.

Watch the trailer for Insidious: Chapter 3 here:

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Related Items#Insidioushorrorprequelreview

More in Movie reviews

Arlo the Alligator Boy

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More

Ride or Die

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Chadwick Boseman: In Honour of An Artist

Andrew Murray
Read More

Ip Man: Kung Fu Master

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

For the Sake of Vicious

★★★★★
Lilly Subbotin
Read More

I Blame Society

★★★★★
Ben Flanagan
Read More

Why Did You Kill Me?

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Me You Madness

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Portal

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Thomas Jordan

Insidious: Chapter 3

★★★★★

Release date

5th June 2015

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Cruise – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Syml – Dim EP
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Birdy at Wilton’s Music Hall Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Steelers: The World’s First Gay and Inclusive Rugby Club
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Arlo the Alligator Boy
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Digital signage: A new trend in communication
    Tech & Sport
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Ride or Die
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!
    ★★★★★
    netflix
  • Arlo the Alligator Boy
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Live from the Barbican: Moses Boyd
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Secret Connection – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • London Grammar – Californian Soil
    ★★★★★
    Album review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Black Coal, Thin Ice | Movie review
1971 | Movie review