Review of Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) by Brett B — 01 Sep 2015

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 is - perhaps surprisingly - not at all a bad movie, and it is a modest step up from CHAPTER 2. The film, for the most part, is interested in following a completely new storyline (aside some returning players from the previous films), which gives it a certain freshness.

.. at least when compared to the retread-y nature of CHAPTER 2 (in fairness, there's little pure originality on display when compared to the horror genre as a whole; it's riffing on ideas we've seen many times before, though doing it fine).

Tonally, the movie is also better balanced than its predecessor, with the humorous elements not coming off as too goofy or borderline-campy this time out. Series writer (and actor) Leigh Whannell acquits himself fine in the director's chair this time out; the production is slick and technically well-made, and while it plays the jump scare card a few too many times, there are some moments that are genuinely chilling, with plenty of eerie, shadowy apparitions that pop up from time to time.

Stefanie Scott makes for an appealing young lead (despite spending much of the movie being physically and emotionally assaulted the story's various spooks and demons), while Lin Shaye's character gets some nice development which Shaye plays well.

The movie does bog down in its third act and becomes a bit repetitive, but before that, it's a perfectly inoffensive horror yarn. Not great, but not as bad as it could have been, either.