The Last Key is now the fourth chapter in the popular Insidious franchise. For quite some
time, horror aficionados gladly looked at the Insidious saga as a solid trilogy. But now another film has been
made, with a fifth promised. How does this one fare?
Our
heroine, Elise, has been summoned to look upon yet another haunting. However,
this time it’s in a very special place: it’s in the house she grew up in, and
she sure doesn’t have very nice memories of it. Reluctantly, she accepts the
task and must confront the horrors from her past as well as an evil entity she met
before…
First
things first, the premise, while simple, is actually pretty decent. The best
aspect about the film is the flashbacks and the awful memories of Elise’s past.
Her childhood and teenage years are pretty tragic and disturbing. They bring
some drama to an otherwise cliché horror film. This task isn’t just about vanquishing
another ghost. It’s more personal.
Sadly, this isn’t enough to save the film. It’s pretty
hard to picture anyone getting scared by this film. As with most horror films
nowadays, it relies on jump scares, but there’s only about three or four jump
scares that work.
Even
the imagery isn’t that great. Sure, the lighting in some dark scenes is pretty
decent, but most of the ghost and creature designs are very generic. There is a
pretty creepy scene towards the end of the film where some creature crawls
towards one of the main characters, but there’s not much else. Even the
cinematography is out of place. The film looks too warm and bright. It doesn’t
have the bleak cinematography or the sinister creature designs of the first Insidious.
While
the story and premise is pretty competent for a film of this kind, it slowly
begins to descend with some pretty awkward plot twists. And the story’s
resolution is just way too cheesy. It’s pretty much the most laughable thing of
the whole film.
For all its faults, The Last Key is at least, well, fun. And while the word “fun” is
something that really shouldn’t be associated with a horror film, it’s probably
what most teenagers will be looking for. A “fun” movie to watch with friends
and perhaps get a scare or two. Just don’t expect too much.
Rating: 2
out of 5 Stars
