Insidious: The Last Key (2018)
Official Synopsis
Parapsychologist Elise Rainier returns to the childhood home where her supernatural abilities first brought terror into her life. With Specs and Tucker beside her, Elise must confront a haunting tied directly to her past and venture once again into the Further.
William’s Review
By the fourth movie, I expected Insidious: The Last Key to just keep escalating the scares. Instead, it does something a little different, and I think that is why it still works.
This is easily the least scary of the first four Insidious movies for me. That does not mean it is not effective. There are still jumps, creepy imagery, and plenty of moments built to make you tense up, but the movie gives you more room to breathe. In exchange, it puts more weight on Elise and her history, and that ended up being the part I liked most. That trade works for me because the story gives the quieter stretches a purpose.
Lin Shaye has already become the center of these prequels, but The Last Key gives her even more to do. We finally get a much clearer look at where Elise came from, what her abilities meant to her family, and why she carries so much pain with her. The younger actresses playing Elise are excellent too. There is a rawness to those early scenes that makes the family material hit harder than I expected.
I also liked how the movie changes the kind of threat we are dealing with. For stretches of the story, the monsters feel much more human, which gives the movie an almost true-crime quality. That mystery gives it a different rhythm from the earlier entries instead of simply repeating the same haunted-house formula again.
KeyFace is probably my favorite creature design in the franchise so far. The fingers, face, and overall silhouette are fantastic. Weirdly, though, I do not think he is as frightening as the Man Who Can’t Breathe or some of the more human-looking entities. There is something about seeing a person twisted into something unnatural that gets under my skin more than a creature that immediately looks like a demon.
The Last Key may trade some of the franchise’s relentless scares for story, but the performances and Elise’s emotional journey keep it from feeling like a step backward. It is another strong chapter that finds a new way into the Further instead of just replaying what worked before.
This is easily the least scary of the first four Insidious movies for me. That does not mean it is not effective. There are still jumps, creepy imagery, and plenty of moments built to make you tense up, but the movie gives you more room to breathe. In exchange, it puts more weight on Elise and her history, and that ended up being the part I liked most. That trade works for me because the story gives the quieter stretches a purpose.
Lin Shaye has already become the center of these prequels, but The Last Key gives her even more to do. We finally get a much clearer look at where Elise came from, what her abilities meant to her family, and why she carries so much pain with her. The younger actresses playing Elise are excellent too. There is a rawness to those early scenes that makes the family material hit harder than I expected.
I also liked how the movie changes the kind of threat we are dealing with. For stretches of the story, the monsters feel much more human, which gives the movie an almost true-crime quality. That mystery gives it a different rhythm from the earlier entries instead of simply repeating the same haunted-house formula again.
KeyFace is probably my favorite creature design in the franchise so far. The fingers, face, and overall silhouette are fantastic. Weirdly, though, I do not think he is as frightening as the Man Who Can’t Breathe or some of the more human-looking entities. There is something about seeing a person twisted into something unnatural that gets under my skin more than a creature that immediately looks like a demon.
The Last Key may trade some of the franchise’s relentless scares for story, but the performances and Elise’s emotional journey keep it from feeling like a step backward. It is another strong chapter that finds a new way into the Further instead of just replaying what worked before.
Amy’s Review
Insidious: The Last Key is the least scary of the first four movies, and I mean that as someone who still got scared multiple times. I could actually breathe a little bit more during this one. The first three felt much more relentless, where you are constantly waiting for the next thing to jump out or appear behind someone. This movie still has those moments, but there are longer stretches where I could relax. I only screamed a few times, which at this point apparently counts as progress.
What surprised me is that I did not mind having fewer scares because I really liked the story. This one feels more like a mystery, and at times even a little like true crime, which immediately got my attention. There is still plenty of supernatural horror, but it is mixed with some very human ugliness, and that made the movie feel different from the others.
I also really liked getting more of Elise, Specs, and Tucker together. They have become their own little family, and I enjoy watching the three of them work together. Lin Shaye is great again, but the younger actresses playing Elise really stood out to me. One scene with young Elise and her father was so raw that it genuinely made me emotional. The acting is a huge part of why this movie works even when it is not scaring me as constantly as the others.
KeyFace looks great too, but he is not the one I find the scariest. The Man Who Can’t Breathe still bothers me more because he looks more human. For some reason, that feels more real to me than something that clearly looks like a demon.
I also appreciate that The Last Key does not feel like the exact same movie again. Four movies into a series, that matters. It gives Elise more depth, changes the type of horror we are dealing with, and still finds enough ways to make me jump. I was nervous plenty of times, just not exhausted by the end of it.
What surprised me is that I did not mind having fewer scares because I really liked the story. This one feels more like a mystery, and at times even a little like true crime, which immediately got my attention. There is still plenty of supernatural horror, but it is mixed with some very human ugliness, and that made the movie feel different from the others.
I also really liked getting more of Elise, Specs, and Tucker together. They have become their own little family, and I enjoy watching the three of them work together. Lin Shaye is great again, but the younger actresses playing Elise really stood out to me. One scene with young Elise and her father was so raw that it genuinely made me emotional. The acting is a huge part of why this movie works even when it is not scaring me as constantly as the others.
KeyFace looks great too, but he is not the one I find the scariest. The Man Who Can’t Breathe still bothers me more because he looks more human. For some reason, that feels more real to me than something that clearly looks like a demon.
I also appreciate that The Last Key does not feel like the exact same movie again. Four movies into a series, that matters. It gives Elise more depth, changes the type of horror we are dealing with, and still finds enough ways to make me jump. I was nervous plenty of times, just not exhausted by the end of it.