Insidious: Chapter 3

So, no mercy this time. A movie I'd like to punch. If I clap in your face, you'll jump. Even if you know I'm gonna do it, you'll jump because you'll never know the exact moment I do it. Insidious claps about ten times like that, and that's its sole ambition. Everything else – the story, the characters, the setting – is subordinate to that. The camera pans to something, something screams into it, and the heretofore voiceless orchestra makes a KABOOM sixty decibels higher than the loudest sound in the movie so far. Just to make you twitch and then relax and laugh at yourself again. I never used to understand why anyone would voluntarily seek this out for money. Now, after all the Conjuring and Insidious stuff I've seen that has stolen cinema-space from any horror innovations and different approaches and yet always earns ten times its budget, I'm bitterly convinced that only a moron can go to the cinema for money to see this. (09/23/2015)

Gone is the ridiculous devil from the first one, gone is the overwrought plot from the second one and we have a solid (the weakest in terms of story = Who cares, it´s not a book bitches?) haunted house film, which this year will be rivaled only by Crimson Peak. The film has really a lot of jump scares, the last time I saw so many was in Drag me To Hell and I appreciate when someone goes full throttle (in exploitation films I want to see a lot of violence, in action films a lot of action, here again scares). The monotonous atmosphere reminiscent of a conservatory rehearsal is something nerds like, but for normal decent people the ned atmosphere is as annoying as the government. The film may feel cheaper than its predecessors, and the string accompaniment is not as thunderous as in The Conjuring, but the goosebumps, the chills down the back and the jumping out of your seat was inevitable (just as you can tell a good song by the goosebumps, so can you tell a horror film). Towards the end, I even shed a few tears with emotion, so the five star was decided. The biggest highlight is the passage through the Dalava, where the dead creatures are truly frightening – I'd love to see a horror film set only in this underworld. The oxygen masked villain is unbeatable, finally no pale girl with long black hair. Compared to the monotonous It Follows, this is a clear winner and the number 1 for the time being. 85% (06/05/2015)

Well made, but no more than that. Where the first movie was innovative and the second was interesting in terms of story, the third one is routine and repetitive. Whannell honours Wan's work and manages to produce a satisfying amount of effective jump scares, but he rather overdoes it in the climax, and the final exorcism of is a recyclate of the shoddiest nature. Does it matter that it's nice to look at and that the cinematographer, director and composer all deserve praise when they have contributed to a film that nobody needed to see, given its predecessors? 65% for the intention and the honesty. (07/28/2015)

I must admit that I had expected a loose but very similar sequel to the first two parts of Insidious. But it never occurred to me that I might be getting a film that knowingly pokes fun of all those monsters, demons and nightmares. It’s as if the movie took the Insidious name only to make fun of it and it got away with it without any problems. On the other hand, I was saying to myself whether I should cry about those illogical plot holes or whether I should simply enjoy scene after scene. You see once two guys with the punk image of ghostbusters burst into the teen horror halfway through, the movie gains a whole new unique dimension. On top of that, the technical side of the film isn’t actually too bad. All in all, this is a film that you can’t take seriously and that’s how you have to approach it. (10/17/2016)

I must say, horrors of this type are truly best enjoyed in the movie theater, preferably with as many people as possible. Even the way the film affects them is an experience in itself. Leigh Whannell might be repeating himself a bit, but even as a director, he skillfully balances the horror moments with the more entertaining parts, which this time are more towards the end. Thanks to knowledge of the previous films, you might enjoy the third installment a bit more, but as a horror, it will work excellently even for those who are completely unfamiliar with the series. As a starting point for watching, it's also great. (06/10/2015)