Paul Magne Haakonsen
I must admit that I was not overly excited to get to sit down to watch "Insidious: The Last Key", as the franchise has become rather mundane and just churning out one generic movie after another.However it turned out that "Insidious: The Last Key" was actually quite entertaining. I especially enjoyed the backstory for Elize. But also the story of her father, as that was quite a surprise.They had great special effects and the entity that haunted the house was actually looking quite interesting, just a shame that it wasn't utilized more efficiently.The cast in the movie was good and people performed quite well to carry the movie. Lin Shaye was, of course as always, the carrying and focal point of the movie. But she was helped along quite nicely by both Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson. It was nice to see Bruce Davison pop up in a movie such as this.This wasn't an overly scary movie though, which in fact hasn't been the trademark of the "Insidious" series after all. But all in all, an entertaining movie and definitely a movie you should see if you enjoy this series of movies.
851222
Greetings from Lithuania."Insidious: The Last Key" (2018) kinda wanted me to believe that this is the last movie in the series. I liked first two parts, but haven't seen the 3d one. They should go with something new if there will be any more movies in this universe, because this one felt tiresome. "The Last Key" isn't a bad movie for sure, but it isn't very good either. Story was familiar and kinda seen may times. It wasn't scary, but overall mood was pretty OK. Overall, "The Last Key" isn't the best horror movie out there at the moment - far from it. Its kinda boring one if you ask me, and i'm a horror movie fan. If you skip this one, you won't lose anything.
Ibsen3
After enjoying the first film, you certainly get the impression that the makers of the franchise want to repeat their success. Whilst the second was underwhelming and the third unusual but a little flat, the fourth is an absolute travesty. I was left wondering how it all became so bad. Indeed, some of the recycled elements from previous movies mentioned in other reviews actually appear to make a mockery of the previous movies. It really is like some kind of parody made by amateurs.There was always a danger with continuing Insidious. After all, what made it work were a lot of features from sound to camerawork that were blatantly stolen from other films and rehashed. The jump cuts of the ashen-faced victims of the crime in the house combine 'The Shining' with the well-worn trope of crackling music from the turn of the 20th Century. There was an eerie vitality to it that raised it above the old candle-strewn, trans-dimensional cliches, revived the spirit of the classic 80s 'Poltergeist' and made you care at least a little for the characters. The techniques were strong, the comedy was fresh and unexpected and there were numerous avenues for the narrative to travel along whether exploring an historical tragedy or moving more into the realms of Demonology. However, whilst all the tricks worked nicely in the first one, the second was stale and left me quite puzzled, wondering whether they made a second film when they clearly didn't seem to have a clear direction to take the whole franchise. This is where the more serious questions were raised over whether the series was a case of style over substance.As a fan of some of the Paranormal Activity movies, I felt that they nevertheless flogged it to death when they should have trimmed it down and focused on what worked, rather than rehashing and refocusing just to prolong its shelf-life. But for me, my biggest problem with that series of films was the way that the third one ended but wasn't truly developed in the later films and lost its way. The essence of the storyline therefore became attenuated. With Insidious, the story arc wasn't actually going anywhere to begin with; it's just eating its own tail. The only thing to link it all together is Shaye and one actress alone is a long, long way from making an effective horror franchise. Whilst they re-imagined the ideas in the third Insidious, it nevertheless just didn't really work IMO and felt flat (but with extra marks for effort). Now with the fourth, they are just recycling the already recycled ideas, adding nothing. Shaye can't do much with a lazy script and worn ideas devoid of imagination. There were far cleverer ideas in the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' series than the pitiful 'demon' in this one. Frights? Scares? If you've seen just one horror movie then you'll know what to expect and see it coming a mile off. I really do feel conned and, if I had seen this at the cinema, I would most certainly have walked out.It's worth saying that, as a big fan of horror movies, you notice some films getting reviews that are way too harsh but the low rating is wholly warranted here. I often find that some very good found footage movies are low-rated purely due to a cross-section of the public who regard them all as cheap and lacking credibility as they can't suspend their disbelief on who's holding the camera. Yet some of the ideas within them and the sense of horror in the viewing experience remain raw and effective. This, however, just feels very immaturely written and directed without any imagination. I don't truly know why Shaye attracts so many comments but she was good in the first and really saved #3 in the franchise.Nevertheless, this dog has had its day, maybe two more days than it should have. Now it's begging to be put out of its misery. I don't mean to be rude but if you rate this highly then you clearly haven't seen enough good horror movies to tell the difference between good and bad.
