Tags:
Film: Insidious: Chapter III
Year: 2015
Director: Leigh Whannell
Writer: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott and Angus Sampson
Review:
This film begins with a young woman approaching a house; she is played by Stefanie Scott. She rings the door bell a couple of times and the woman who lives there finally answers, she is played by Lin Shaye. She asks what she wants. Scott explains that her mother died and that she was told by a friend’s mother how good Shaye was at contacting the dead. She declines at first, stating she doesn’t do this sort of thing anymore, but then reluctantly decides to try.
Shaye tries to contact Scott’s mother, but something else makes an appearance. This entity is played by Michael Reid MacKay. Shaye stops at this point and sends Scott on her way. She also tells her to no longer try to contact the dead on her own, because if she does, anything can answer.
That night Scott hears something and thinks it is her mother. The voice says her name. She realizes that it is coming from the air vent. She stands up and tries to communicate with it, but doesn’t get anymore.
The following morning we meet the rest of her family. Her father is Dermot Mulroney and he is an electrician. Since his wife has died, he relies on Scott as she is very busy with work. She wants to be an actress and is trying to study her lines, but she also has to ensure her little brother, played by Tate Berney, is awake and gets to school. On her way out of the building, we meet a boy that has a crush on her, played by Ashton Moio.
She goes to her audition and asks if her mother is there. She looks up to a balcony and sees MacKay waving at her. There isn’t something right about him though. She doesn’t do as well at her audition as she would like. She sits outside with her friend, played by Hayley Kiyoko. Scott believes that she will go on the other side of the country and she will be stuck taking care of her family. She is upset because she feels she has blown her shot at the school. As she is crossing the road, she sees MacKay again, waving at her. She stops, continuing to stare and is hit by a car.
Scott is taken to a hospital and while she is there, she dies. She goes to the other side where she sees MacKay and his appearance scares her back to life. She has two casts, one on each leg.
MacKay’s haunting of Scott become progressively worse. He cracks the ceiling above her, he flips her out of bed and he takes her up to an apartment one floor up. While there she sees something that looks a lot like her, but it doesn’t have hands, feet, mouth, nose or eyes. Her father is at his wits end trying to help her.
Shaye has her own dealings with MacKay. She has a vision before she goes to sleep about Scott. She wants to help her, but she can’t deal with these entities anymore. She is pushed to when MacKay bothers her as well, but it terrifies her. When Mulroney visits and asks for help, she knows she has to try.
Shaye comes to visit Scott and when she goes into The Further, the name of the other side; she goes to the house from the first film. She meets ghosts that she will encounter again later, but she has to stop when the Bride in Black appears to kill her, played by Tom Fitzpatrick. There is even an appearance from Steve Coulter, who was involved with the events from the first film and what happened to the father in that one as a boy.
Shaye has to find herself. While she does, Berney tells his father about two ghost hunters who he thinks can help, played by Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson. To this point, they’ve never actually dealt with any real ghosts. Can they handle what they are going to be dealing with? Will Shaye find herself and help before it is too late? Will Scott survive this ordeal?
I have to say that this one was great. I liked this film better than the one previously and put it right there with the original. This one actually made me jump, which is very rare now-a-days. MacKay was great as the demon known as The Man Who Can’t Breathe. I loved the story and I thought the acting was good. The film is paced well and the horror continuously builds. I think for a film like this it is important to not lose momentum and to get progressively worse for the main character. I thought Mulroney did a solid job as the father who doesn’t believe, but concerned with his daughter. I felt it was realistic and his change at the end makes perfect sense. I also really liked the tie-ins and links to previous films in the series.
I didn’t have a lot to put down for this film. Really the only thing that I have is Shaye did get a little bit annoying. She constantly goes back and forth about wanting to help and then not being able to. Then again, if I was doing what she was and experienced what she did, I think that I would have trouble sticking to it as well.
I would recommend giving this film a viewing. This is a scary, haunted house, demon possession type movie. If you liked the first or the series in general, I feel this is a very good addition. I actually think that this one is better the second film in the trilogy. The acting is good, the story is great and the horror is as well. This one has some jumpy parts that even got me. If you like these types of films, I would highly recommend this one.
My Rating: 8 out of 10