Insidious: The Last Key - Review

R: January 5th, 2018 | R: 109 minutes | R: PG-13

The tagline for this movie -- which I was calling 'The Final Key all day yesterday -- is "Fear Comes Home."
I thought it would be very funny to talk about how this could have been a holiday movie if they'd only added "for the Holidays" to the tagline. That way, they could have also been considered for the 2018 Academy Awards.
I took those brilliant insights, slapped 'em on a photo of the screen promo for the film at the theater last night, and put it on Twitter. Then I tagged producer James Wan.
Over coffee this morning, I was browsing my Twitter activity and saw that Mr. Wan "liked" my tweet. In other words, I'll never work in this town again.

Anyway, in this fourth installation of what could have been a trilogy or even just a crappy sequel, Elise (Lin Shaye) is going back to dark, echoey places where jump scares lurking at every turn.
After a nightmare about her childhood house -- she doesn't call it a "home" cause that's not what it was -- revealing her torrid past, Elise gets an ominous telephone call asking for help. Remarkably, the call comes from a man currently residing at the house she grew up in. Its location? Five Keys, New Mexico.

Do you understand the gravity of this? Five Keys. Five fingers. Well, four fingers and a thumb. So, four key fingers and a key thumb. It makes five.
Un. Real.
Elise is apprehensive to return to that place, given the memories she carries, but if she didn't go, there wouldn't have been a movie.

I don't recall there being arrangements with a dog sitter for her adorable, old pup, which is infuriating and irresponsible, but that's not what we're here for.
Tagging along are her ghost-hunting, well-intentioned but endlessly bumbling sidekicks, Tucker and Specs (Angus Sampson and Leigh Whannell, respectively).
Arriving in Five Keys, Elise meets the new owner of her old abode, Ted (Kirk Acevedo), who yells at the ghosts to make them go away, but ghosts don't respond to that kind of thing. They don't care. They are deceased.

Needless to say, his stern talking-to doesn't work, hence the phone call to Elise.
They sure did try got cram a lot of movie into this little guy. Elise's back story, her recurring nightmares, the new trouble, a reconciliation with her brother whom she abandoned as a teen, meeting his daughters who don't look old enough to be daughters to a 90-year-old which is about how old he looks, and processing secrets that she hadn't figured out until now.

I am most perplexed, however, at the decision to name and bill the key-handed monster of the movie KeyFace. The character is listed on iMDB.com as KeyFace. I didn't catch it in the credits after the movie, but I'm looking at the iMDB page currently and it's right there.
Additionally, even though I was calling it The Final Key and was proven aggressively wrong by theater staff, the name leaves me with the impression that they're done making them. The Last Key/The Last Straw?
Nope! Definitely left wide open for another. I am not on board with this decision, but nobody asked me. So I guess I'll see you all at the theater for Insidious: We're Definitely Making Eight More of These. Love you James Wan!

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Katie (Contributor) is a cinephile and Chicago native who has been reviewing film for nearly a decade. Her heroes include Roger Ebert and Jay Sherman -- it stinks!
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The fourth installment in the insidious series which Is a prequel, tells the history of Elise (Lin Shaye). It shows her growing up in really horrible conditions and how her powers affected her, being punished by her father every time she saw a ghost.

One day, as a child, she sets an evil entity free and all these later she must return to the house she grew up in and handle business.

There were a couple scary parts, not enough though. I thought the first Insidious was great, one of the best horror flicks. The sequels however aren’t on the same level. This also has more of a murder mystery feel to it, also quite a few jokes to help loosen you up. If you are moderately into horror, you might enjoy this. If you really like being scared, this might not work for you.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Ashley K. (Contributor) is a frequent traveler currently living in San Diego. She's a super nerd who enjoys all kinds of movies and doesn't always think the book was better.
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While not overly messy, or even all that unpleasant at times, it's still an uninspired entry to the Insidious universe. The story was stretched thin to its barebones in this one, and the jangled structure doesn't help the viewer follow a coherent storyline. Lin Shaye's is excellent, however, and there are some very well executed scares that will no doubt make you jump from your seat. Unfortunately, the film's pacing is awkward, the humor falls flat too often and is nearly unbearable, and its titular demon is painfully bland.

If you're a fan of the franchise, as my friend who I saw this with is, you'll likely find this movie to be just fine. It's not as good as the first two Insidious flicks, and no one expected it to be, but it's mediocre enough for a January horror release.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Gerardo (Contributor) is a film student living in Philadelphia. He usually prefers independent and classic films, but he will watch anything in theaters.
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