Welcome to the 3rd chapter of what I call the new Goosebumps franchise. Why call it that? Because the Insidious series actually has a PG-13 rating. Many people forgot that when they reviewed the first film. But I could tell from the jump that the film was for a younger generation because the demon looked like Darth Maul.
I was satisfied with the first movie, and I didn’t get a chance to see the second one. But I’m hearing that Chapter 3 was the best of all and I can see why,.
First, let’s talk about the story. Interestingly enough, this was a prequel to the first film. A girl, who is trying to reach out to her dead mother, is eventually tormented by a demon and seeks the help of psychic Elise Reinier. it seemed simple enough, though potentially boring. But I liked the slow buildup that the film took at first to make sure you knew what the dynamics of the characters were all about. Things quickly got ugly for young Quinn, our demon harassed heroine. No spoilers but when you see the waving hand… yeah.
Now usually in a horror film about demons you have a hero step in to help the victim being terrorized. It’s usually a family member like Mom or Dad, but rarely if ever is it an older woman! That’s where the film got interesting to me. As the story progressed, Lin Shaye’s character grew more compelling and real. As I said on Twitter – Forget calling Mad Max: Fury Road a feminist film, Insidious 3 was that all the way. On the other side of that appreciation I wasn’t feeling how totally clueless the dad was. But that’s Hollywood for you and their stereotyping of husbands and fathers (which I’m both).
“But was it Scary Geek Soul Brother?” Yes, to an extent. The teens and young adults definitely jumped when something went ‘Boo”. There were some nice, non-gory horrific moments. But at my age it’s really hard to make me uncomfortable in a theater. Now if you made a film about demonic mortgages, unnatural loss of job security and supernatural baldness then I would be shaking.
I have to go back to the feminist thing. I’m always trying to listen and learn from my sisters so bear with my dude-bro points of view. Stefanie Scott as Quinn may have been the victim, but I think she played the grieving daughter trying to find answers in a mature way. Not an oscar performance, but it’s a horror film so she did okay. One of the examples of the strong female scenes in the film was, while in her emotional turmoil, at one point Quinn still voiced to her dad that she had dreams and wasn’t a replacement for the responsibilities that her mom had. Again, not to spoil, but the girl-power was very strong by the end.
Geek Soul Brother gives INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 and deserved 4 out of 5 COSMIC AFROS.
