The "Insidious" franchise chose some interesting directions to go down as it's continued to produce sequels. While the first sequel was very much a direct follow-up to the original, the third film went the prequel route, and this (possibly) final film of the series continues in that vein (the word "last" is used a lot in horror sequels and it rarely represents the end of the series). And given the first film was a knock-off of Poltergeist, these follow ups have kinda meant that it's very much like we're getting a series of films centered on Tangina, the helpful medium. It's nice that we're getting mainstream horror movies centered on a 70-something actress (well, technically we're getting two since Helen Mirren has Winchester out this week).
This one is particularly about the pensioner-qualifying-medium, because it has her returning to her childhood home to confront a haunting that affects her childhood home - and one that she may be responsible for herself. Accompanied as always by her goofy assistance Specs and Tucker (Australians Angus Sampson and Leigh Whannell, showing that two guys from TV's Recovery can stick around an awfully long time), she discovers there's a lot she's left behind, including a traumatised brother and a couple of secrets ...
Alas, this doesn't quite get there - the Insidious movies have often had somewhat ridiculous mythology, but this one is unfortunately kinda generic and vague rather than flirting with the more batshit insane ideas that the series has previously played with. There's some interesting monster design, and a couple of spooky bits, but it all ends up rather flat (and concludes in a way that catches up with the first film, not leaving particularly many windows for another sequel to go, but, again, never underestimate the shamelessness of horror movie franchises). I like the idea of this more than I do the execution, unfortunately.
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