Today we take a look at Insidious: The Last Key. Carley and I are very much into watching horror movies on a regular basis. We're always looking for those great horror movies that actually get you a little terrified whether it's from something really creepy or from a good jump scare or two. This movie is a good continuation of the series; if there is anything which really gets to me it's definitely ghosts and things, but unfortunately I didn't find this one too scary.
This movie is the forth in the franchise (oddly enough I still haven't watch the first movie). In this movie we learn about Elise's past where her father didn't want her doing anything to do with spirits and supernatural things so he would try to abuse it out of her. With her mother being supportive of her, Elise would continue to refuse to listen to her father and eventually ended up locked in the basement where the demon of this movie was released.
Years later Elise is working with her assistants and receives a call which leads her back to her childhood home where this all happened. At first she refuses to help the man calling, but then she reconsiders and decides that it is her responsibility to fix what she started years ago.
The story is revealed in a great way where you learn about twists and turns in the story that you didn't expect. There were times in Elise's childhood where she thought she was seeing a ghost, but she was really seeing someone who was alive but had escaped from the basement of the house. Crazy, right?
Some of what I didn't enjoy so much in this movie was the girls who were supposed to be her estranged nieces. While I think it's great to meet them and get to know them a little bit and even have them join Elise in assisting her with the ghostly problem of the house... they just don't have very much character other than being good-looking on the screen and a source of "jokes" for the two assistants to make fools of themselves. I really would have preferred the movie keep more of a serious tone and build more character rather than make jokes.
This movie presents some serious topics such as the aforementioned child abuse and even touches a little bit on a sort of rape-ish theme in the way the demon treats his female victims. Considering the only-female victims and the way the girls are treated throughout the movie, there's an air of sexism which is a little uncomfortable to think about after the fact.
All things considered, this is a fun movie series to follow. I think the horror part was a bit lost in this one, and I think it could have done without the frantic jokes about the guys falling over themselves for the girls. I'm going to score this one at 6/10 for being pretty average, but not bad. I still recommend watching this one especially if you are an avid fan of the series.
~ Kyle Welykholowa
