Insidious: The Last Key

"Insidious: The Last Key" aka "Insidious Chapter 4" (2018, Adam Robitel, Blumhouse Productions, Stage 6 Films, Universal Pictures) is the fourth film in the Insidious series, but the second in terms of story chronology. We follow the parapsychologist from the series, Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), who is brought in on a case that is very close to her own heart.


Young Elise (Ava Kolker) did not enjoy much of a childhood. Her connections with the ghostly world were not well received by her father (Josh Stewart) who was abusive and violent anyway, and her timid, yet supportive mother (Tessa Ferrer) was met with an unhappy and untimely end for which Elise feels largely responsible. After running away as a teenager (Hana Hayes), Elise is sure that she will never have to see that unhappy house ever again, but alas, fate brings her in on a new case set within the very walls of her initial torment.


A fairly formulaic entry to the franchise, we once again enjoy the company of awkward nerd duo, Specs (Leigh Whannell, Mr Writer/Producer) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), who's uncomfortable patter did a good job of breaking up the scenes. We are also introduced to Elise's estranged brother, Christian (Bruce Davison) and her two nieces, Melissa (Spencer Locke) and Imogen (Caitlin Gerard). I can completely understand Christian's anger towards his sister who abandoned him with their abusive father alone as soon as she was legally able. What I didn't understand was the girls' sudden repartee with Elise; an aunt that they had never known existed. It all seemed a bit sudden, a shade more than curiosity and... unlikely.


The film offers a few fun jump scares and skilfully holds back often enough to deliver a surprise every now and again. The setting is the familiar haunted house of the series, but it works well.


I do not dislike Lin Shaye. I have seen her in plenty of things where I've liked her performance and I would say that my dislike of Elise Rainier is not due to Shaye's performance but the character itself. It's pleasant to watch an older female take the lead in a film, especially as such a flawed character. Elise is not a heroine, per se, she is a woman exploiting her unusual skillset for money and to soothe her own guilt. Not unlike the character of Angel in the Whedonverse who saves people in an attempt to make up for his past transgressions, Elise is driven by good intentions but also selfish ones. Helping people makes her feel better about her past. And there's nothing wrong with that, in fact, I enjoy that aspect of the character. I think what I dislike about Elise as a character is the way she responds to everything. I think the intention is to make her appear strong and methodical, but to me she reads as cold and a little flat.


The monster of the piece enjoys some good scare factor but is a little over-revealed and loses a bit of its edge early on, although the design innovation is commendable.


As fourth sequels go, it's pretty decent, but it does feel like they may be running out of ideas to keep this particular branch of the franchise going.

[Image: Universal Pictures, et al]

Hani

Friday The 13th (2009)

"Friday The 13th" (2009, Marcus Nispel, Michael Bay, Paramount Pictures, New Line Cinema, Platinum Dunes) is the remake of the first four original "Friday the 13th" films, pretty much, all mashed into one.

Well, what can I say other than, as usual, Michael Bay's stamp has once again brought mostly disappointment to a classic reboot which had so much potential. Although, it's not really his fault. He didn't direct it. It's the man behind 2003's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake, Marcus Nispel, who did all of that.

I'm just venting here. The main problems with this film is the sheer uncreative pitfalls which it falls into.

I love films which involve teens, cabins, woods, mishaps and murder. But, I also like a little bit of something different in there, too. "F13 Reboot" only goes through the motions and ups the sex and gore. The kills aren't tense or scary, and the characters are too same-y and obnoxious. I refuse to believe that all floppy haired boys in America are complete douche-bags!

The kills feel like they are just checking off the list and often I found myself sighing audibly and just waiting for the scene to end. I'm usually the relishing type. 

Jason is excellently played by Derek Mears, a mountain of a man, who gives us a faster-moving, thinking Jason Vorhees, still with menacing demeanour. The main fault in the Jason character is his severe lack of good lurking. Sure, he's lurking but he's too obvious, and where's the creepy 'from Jason's perspective' bits?

The film starts at the end of the original film, but also covers two separate groups of teens.The characters are disposable as hell, which is handy as they get disposed of as fast as hell!

The grounding point of the original F13 films is that Jason died because camp counsellors were drinking and having sex, instead of looking after him. And so, there's plenty of boobs and there's more sex scenes than horror... And who doesn't like a bit of beer pong and (slightly safer than real life) danger can?

The gore is good, even if the kill scenes themselves are just boring, long and nothing to write home about. But there's too much going on and just generally the film feels like an empty, oversexed gore-fest without any real comedic breaks (even if they do try hard to create this in three characters).

Of course, I can't really fault the acting, which, for an F13 film is excellent. Mainly because the actors playing the 2 Dimensional slasher fodder this time are actually known. Oh, and naturally, I do love Jared Padalecki, who makes this film flow a lot better than it would have otherwise as he searches for his missing sister (from the set of teens who were camping).

Now, I'm not saying it's anything worse than some of the other "F13"s out there, because, like all horror franchises, they jumped the shark so high they ended up in space... Quite literally, see 'Jason X'. 

Plus, we get to have the hockey mask!

But it's nothing new, and apart from being a vehicle for some young actors, a string to the director's bow and a fab creative project for the special effects guys, this film holds nothing I care about and probably doesn't even appeal to the teens of today, who should, in my view, really be made to watch the originals anyway! Give me a grainy, dirty, low budget slasher flick over this film any day.

First they beheaded his mother, now they're stealing his wild-growing weed!

Hani

The House by The Cemetery

"The House by The Cemetery" (1981, Lucio Fulci, Fulvia Film, Arrowdrome) is an infamous Italian Splatter film from the cult hero of late 70s - 80s low budget Italian gore, Fulci - who also brought us "The Beyond" and "City of The Living Dead". This flick is a favourite of mine because it's not your average haunted house story or your average zombie film! Also it was banned here in Britain for quite a long time and this is the first time I've managed to catch the full unedited version!

Not too a complicated plot, and with very little twists, turns or much in the way of story telling, this film isn't about the story, it's about the ride through slow motion gore soaked scenes and tense, if badly dubbed, creepy children scenes.

When a colleague of Dr. Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco) named Dr. Peterson is found dead in his large, old house in Boston in a cemetery, Boyle is asked to reside there for a short while to continue the man's research. He relocates from New York to the country house with his wife, Lucy (cult Italian gore actress, Catriona MacColl) and their young, floppy haired son, Bob (Giovanni Frezzi) - Yes, Bob.

Before setting off, Bob is anxious, and believes that a little girl in a photograph is warning him to stay away. But this is a horror film, so Bob's fears are dismissed instantly and the family move in. It isn't long, though, before they begin to regret their decision and Bob makes a new friend, Mae (Silvia Collatina).

I really enjoy this film. It's creepy in places, and although badly dubbed, and generally not the most exciting characters, the children in this film are damn creepy. There are hefty amounts of gore done with good old fashioned special effects, make up and props! Excellent!

Fulci loved his slow motion gore. It's like he wanted to make the audience slowly suffer through the death of the character as much as the character does! That, or he just really loved blood splatters in slow motion! There are quite a lot of violent and inventive deaths in this film.

They also reveal the 'creature'. While this can often be a mistake in film, this film carries it off spectacularly, creating a grotesque and nightmarish villain of the piece. They also don't reveal too much too early, however, and while the plot is not exactly complex or even very clever, the slow, nail biting chase scenes are effective because you don't quite know what's going on.

A real cult favourite with famous fans including Wednesday 13, this film is an excellent example of early 80s low budget Italian Splatters. Filmed entirely in English primarily by non-native speakers, it has an oddly dreamlike hue to it, a quality which creates a good playing field for the gore.

Another level of creep is added by an odd sub-story running in the background with a childish friendship, and the history of the house. Although not fully explored, and kind of clumsily done, some of these scenes are the most interesting non-gory scenes in the film.

Fulci has been condemned in the past for being misogynistic, and while his female characters are generally nothing but screaming gore fodder, he's not exactly alone in the genre in this, and I don't tend to dwell much on it. Many horror ladies spend most of their scream...sorry, screen time panicking and getting hacked up - a trend which is rapidly changing in the genre, but will always be there.

A good, gory 'what lurks in the basement?' kind of film.

 

[Image: Fulvia Film]

Hani