Review of Insidious: The Last Key (2018) by Jake R — 05 May 2018

Blumhouse Productions have created, for better or worse, an unshakeable horror film dynasty in the 2010s. Starting with the gargantuan success of "PARANORMAL ACTIVITY" in 2009, the production company continues to put out massively successful horror films that (in most cases) are actually pretty scary and wildly popular among audiences.

However, with great such popularity comes the increased studio pressure to crank out as many films as possible, which almost always results in a decaying brand and film quality. The "INSIDIOUS" saga that started with their first film in 2011 has been one of the strongest among the BH cavalry, and this fourth installment, the shamefully-named "INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY" should not be good by any historic standards.

I was surprised to find that I really liked it! The writing here is nothing new, and at times so bad that you can't help but chuckle moronically, but the demons and scares were great! Lin Shaye's Elise is the only main character, but she is quite effective at embodying the role of tired/jaded medium who sniffs out demons to help frantic families in peril.

Yes -- some of her dialogue, and the dialogue of her companions (Angus Sampson and Leigh Whannell) is atrocious, but it serves its purpose in breaking some of the tension (especially among viewers in the theater, where this film was no doubt much more of a terrifying experience as opposed to home-viewing).

Director Adam Robitel exposes his talent at building up to his scares, and he even manages to pull off some of the jump scares without them seeming like total cheap-shots. The film is involving and eerie, and the demons are scary as hell.

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this one as much as I did.