Insidious: The Last Key Review
PG13: disturbing thematic content, violence and terror, and brief strong language
Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Stage 4 Films
1 hr and 43 min
Dir: Adam Robitel | Writer: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Josh Stewart, Caitlin Gerard
INTRO: It is officially 2018 and the month of January.
You know what that means?!
TAKE IT AWAY RED LETTER MEDIA!
WOOOOO INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 4!
After the events in the previous film, Elise Rainier goes on to investigate the recent supernatural disturbances occurring in a family's home in New Mexico, a house in which she used to live in her youth, diving her deeper into The Further.
THE GOOD
THIS IS LIN SHAYE’S FRANCHISE AND IM 100% OKAY WITH THAT
With every Insidious movie, the primary character that always appears in Elise played by Lin Shaye. In every entry, she is portrayed to be practically the total badass who talks to spirits and always saves the day. That’s not the case here. One of the best aspects “The Last Key” is that this is officially the Elise movie and we see a side of her that we’ve never really seen before. Since this is an Elise centric story, the film begins primarily focusing on her childhood and how she was always gifted with seeing spirits. Unfortunately, she had to be the daughter of an abusive father who is both a drunk and a cop. It starts right off the bat expressing how Elise had a really abusively fucked up childhood. I mean the abuse this girl got as a child is really gut-wrenching, and automatically you sympathize with Elise because of her innocence and kindness. Though why must it be a reoccurring trope to have an abusive drunken father in horror movies?
“The Cell,” “Running Scared,” and most recently “IT” had the drunk and/or angry dad and it's really manipulative at this point. If we weren’t so attached to this character thanks to previous movies, this would’ve been a huge complaint. Though she should be scared of having the ability to speak to dead people, the most interesting thing about Elise is that she fears is facing her past. It is a complex element of this story that makes it surprisingly human. It is seen how traumatized this woman is for a relatable reason though she should be traumatized by being able to see the supernatural. You see Elise at her most vulnerable, and it's highly understandable. The story this time around has Elise having to go back to the place she was raised in because of a call she received of the paranormal spirit and you know she doesn’t want to go back AT ALL When a potential client calls her to check out the site of the ghost she is okay but once he says the address she pretty responds with,
SOMETHING YOU GOTTA KNOW
Remember how Elise died in “Insidious Chapter 2”? Then why does she keep going back? Well as long as you can set these movies back before 2011 then you can keep making this franchise work until Lin Shaye says “No.” This takes place a year before the events of the first installment so thankfully this prequel should be the last installment and for what its worth, it fits nicely into well-wrapped bow. This is a character story of Elise facing her past, and for the most part, it works because of the way how her character is written and Lin Shaye’s performance. She embodies this character so much that when you associate the name “Insidious,” the first thing you’ll probably think of is Lin Shaye. The way how she can shift from being confident and secure to being at her most weakest is impressive and she carries the movie on her own. Nobody in this is are in the same caliber as her because well Shaye is the only one who knows how to act throughly.
This is not a ghost story. If you came into “Insidious: The Last Key” movie expecting chills and thrills you will be thoroughly disappointed. There is a few jump scares but the movie’s primary focus is giving Elise her own narrative and what is presented is a crime drama. There are few elements of horror here and its great for this movie to deviate from its standard formula that audiences would expect thrill from and it's highly welcomed here. Just don’t go in with the expectancy to get scared because you most likely won’t.
THE BAD
LEIGH WE GOTTA TALK
Specs and Tucker.
I hate these two. I really do. They were useful in the first two Insidious films and had purpose. Here, they are just annoying as hell. We know that in third film these two started off as internet pranksters who thought they could cleanse ghosts and they help Elise out because of her actually having the power to do so, but this movie makes you question why she still hangs around these two knuckleheads. They might as well be twiddle dee and twiddle dum because Specs and Tucker add nothing to the story but cringe. They are supposed to be the comic relief, and they were funny in the first installment, but now they have worn out their welcome. They are not that funny at. Whenever this incorporates humor, the responsive of laughter is just silent. They have a running gag whenever they introduce themselves, and all you do is cringe.
The more time they are onscreen, the more creepier they become. When Elise interacts with these two girls at a diner, these two bumbling idiots try to flirt in a humorous way and it's really uncomfortable to watch. You get second-hand embarrassment seeing how low Specs and Tucker goes just to trying to get with these girls as if they never interacted with beautiful girls before. What makes it even worse is that a literally forced romance for Specs is crowbarred in here and it's terrible, primarily since this movie, is written BY THE GUY WHO PLAYS SPECS. Yeah, Leigh Whannell who is responsible for all this franchise’s screenplays along with the first three Saw films is Specs and what he did with his character is just plain out wrong.
This is something that needs to be spoiled because the level of cringe is incredibly high on this one. So throughout the movie Specs and Tucker hit on one of Elise’s nieces, and it's creepy how they fight over her in a somewhat subtle way. By the time everything is back to normal, Specs forces himself on Imogen's lips and begins to make out with her as if they had any chemistry throughout the entire movie. They don’t even know each other, and they only had one shared scene together, and there was no level of romantic interest on both ends. To add insult to injury after that scene, Tucker goes “AW HOW COME HE GETS THE GIRL?!”
Leigh. What the fuck was that? You know how to write characters, comedy, and story. Why did you think it was okay to have this really disgusting moment your character did in this movie that you wrote and played the role of. Did you thinking, “Oh since we have Caitlin Gerard as Elise’s beautiful niece, let me give myse-I MEAN SPECS the action of kissing her.” the entire time you wrote the script? I hope you didn’t. That was such a vain thing that the only person who would think that relationship was developed is Tommy Wiseau.
LETS GET STUPID IN HERE
There are surprising twists in the story until it gets fucking stupid and believe me it gets stupid. For example, there is a scene where Elise is getting investigated by an officer, and she thoroughly explains her occupation. But right after describing how she can see spirits, a spirit just appears behind the officer and scares her. So when the officer asks her whats wrong, she responds with, “Oh nothing. I just saw stuff.”
UM, WHAT?!
Why did you just lie to the investigator when you just explained to him what you do? You could’ve just said a spirit just showed up and I got startled. Just small moments are so baffling that you question the reasoning for several characters actions such as why does Specs straight up murder a dude when he could’ve knocked him out unconscious? How come the spirit world or “The Further” could create a rift between time and space?
And most of all, how come Elise’s dad never ages? When the movie begins, we see Elise’s dad for the first time, and he’s middle-aged. Later on, there's a flashback when Elise is 16, and her dad looks precisely the same as he was when she was 8. No makeup is done or anything like that whatsoever. It's as if he never aged.
LAST STATEMENT
“Insidious: The Last Key” have many flaws and stupidity thanks to its weak script filled with stupidity and awkwardness. All that aside, Lin Shaye’s fantastic performance and the movies fast-paced flow keeps this fourth and hopefully final chapter of this horror franchise give a somewhat satisfying ending to close the book on.
Rating: 2.5/5 | 58%
Super Scene: Deus Ex Momma
