Writer: Naseem Randhawa

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Watch this if you liked: "Insidious" & "The Conjuring" films

When horror duo Leigh Whannell and James Wan created the first "Insidious" film back in 2010, little did they know that the success of the horrifying world and the characters it created would spawn three other films.

Screenwriter-actor Whannell then had to find ways to expand the story through a sequel and a prequel, and thus, the fourth movie, "Insidious: The Last Key", (directed by Adam Robitel) is also a prequel, and chronologically the second film in the series.

Following the events in the third film, "Insidious: Chapter 3", main star Elise Rainier, a demonologist that we've come to know from the previous films, has to now return to her childhood home in New Mexico to deal with a supernatural disturbance, and quite literally, face the demons of her past.

We've got to admit, putting a 74-year-old Lin Shaye as its main star might leave some hesitating to watch, after all, how are most of the movie going demographic to relate to an elderly woman when we have been so used to seeing college kids getting murdered in a cabin in the woods or a young family moving to a haunted house? But surprisingly, if you give this a chance like how you did for "Chapter 3", then you'll realise that Shaye is the most strongest character in the "Insidious" stories and the exploration of her backstory and how she got to where she is now, allows for a more richer and emotional story on top of the horrors.

Plot-wise, while the strongest of the "Insidious" movies would have to be the first one starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne - who seek to help their possessed son - the somewhat same familial strings are also laid out here as we see Elise's childhood flashbacks of her brother, mother and father - the latter who exhibits that demons may not only exist in the astral plane of The Further, but in real life too.

In her most defining role yet, Shaye, who has always been the brave central figure in the "Insidious" films, had shown a more vulnerable side that exposes her emotional layers. Achieving that balance between bravely confronting one's fears and grieving over tragedy, allowed the core of the movie to really stand out over the demons.

Don't get us wrong, there are plenty of spirits, demons and also that special journey into the damned Further, but watch it because you liked the previous "Insidious" films and want to complete the circle of how Elise became who she is.

Cinema Online, 04 January 2018