Insidious: The Last Key (2018)

'Insidious: The Last Key' thankfully doesn't follow the usual trend of crap horror films released during the first week of the new year. It deals with some really dark material for a PG-13 film well and brings some genuine thrills and a wonderful performance from Lin Shaye. The entire film really rests on Shaye as it's a horror film in 2018 that has an elderly woman in the lead which is unheard of in any decade, so to say that she had a lot on her shoulders would be putting it lightly. Thankfully, she is as wonderful and charming as always and I really think this may be her best performance in both the series and her career.

It helps that she is surrounded by a great supporting cast, even if her two sidekicks (one played by the writer himself) do come off as almost arbitrary and have the worst dialogue in the film hands down. Still, they give their best with what little they have to do with the overall story here. Shaye's character has two nieces here that are also pretty good in their brief roles. They aren't annoying, they don't make dumb decisions like many teen characters, and one even connects heavily to the climax so overall you have a horror film with some pretty decent writing for once.

The film looks great as well, as does the franchise as a whole but it doesn't go as far with its spectacle as the previous two entries. The creatures/demons/ghosts themselves are pretty minimal and pulled back in their designs with the main antagonist having an interesting but at the same time an all too familiar look to him. If there is any real negative I had with 'The Last Key' is that it does rely on cheap jump scares from time to time but thankfully they have payoffs 99 percent of the time and something scary actually happens. The film also does have an overall familiar feeling to it and on top of it being a prequel, you get the feeling throughout that you know exactly what's going to happen (with the exception of a decent twist towards the end).

So in the end, it's no worse than part 3, but it isn't better than the first two. It's simply a fun spooky horror movie that's well acted, well written, and well shot. The 'Insidious' series does defy the usual diminishing returns most horror franchises reach by their fourth film by still remaining consistent in its quality. It can never match that first film, with its iconic red lipstick demons, Tiny Tim ghosts etc. but it's still a worthy sequel that's worth your time if you're a horror fan.

7.5/10