A Z-grade addition to the popular horror franchise, …The Last Key is set before the events of the original Insidious (2010).
The focus is on a parapsychologist (veteran character actress Lin Shaye, reprising her role from the previous chapters) who returns to her childhood home in New Mexico after 57 years.
With her is a pair of geeky ‘ghost hunters’ (Leigh Whannel, who also wrote the script, and Angus Sampson) meant to help rid her house of the demonic manifestations that still stomp about in the corridors.
Director Adam Robitel emphasises clichéd jolt-scares over character development. The screenplay is full of supernatural mumbo-jumbo and inopportune visits to a dank basement. At no point does any of the protagonists seem to be in any sort of real danger.
In fact, as they as they wander through a netherworld called The Further (the title initially proposed for the series), the proceedings get so convoluted it’s hard to tell what’s going on.
Overall, Insidious: The Last Key is a fright-free dud.