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Insidious: Chapter 3

  • Film
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Time Out says

Those evil spirits are up their creaky old tricks in this unnecessary third instalment of the popular horror franchise

Dads can have a tough time of it when their little girls turn into teenagers and start attracting the attention of the opposite sex. Or in the case of this largely fright-free horror flick, attracting the attention of a faceless demon that feeds on the life force of women.

Directed with not much flair by Leigh Whannell (who wrote the previous two installments), ‘Insidious: Chapter 3’ is being billed as a prequel. The franchise’s stars – Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson – have bailed, replaced by Dermot Mulroney as widower Sean Brenner, and Stefanie Scott as his 17-year-old daughter Quinn, who live together in a spooky apartment block. Clanking pipes replace creaking doors as the first sign that something sinister is afoot, and when Quinn is involved in a car crash that puts her in a wheelchair, both legs in plaster, the evil spirits come out to play.

What ‘Insidious: Chapter 3’ has in common with the two earlier films is The Further, a netherworld of lost souls, and a place into which humans, illogically, can wander willy-nilly. Lin Shaye returns as Elise Rainier, a psychic with the manner of an Avon lady, bumblingly assisted by ghostbusting sidekick nerds Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (played by director Whannell). With just a handful of jumps and one fingernails-on-a-blackboard scene in which a possessed Quinn walks on broken legs, don’t expect any spills or chills from this third outing. It is silly rather than scary, more insipid than insidious.

Written by Cath Clarke

Release Details

  • Release date:Friday 5 June 2015
  • Duration:97 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Leigh Whannell
  • Screenwriter:Leigh Whannell
  • Cast:
    • Lin Shaye
    • Dermot Mulroney
    • Stefanie Scott
    • Hayley Kiyoko
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