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Insidious: Chapter 3 - Blu-ray Review

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3 stars

There is a moment in Insidious’ latest chapter that makes it all worthwhile. Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) is tiptoeing through the nooks and crannies of her own house following the oily footprints of a demon hell-bent in possessing the living. The suspense is palpable, as she seems to have it cornered. We know its not. It has to be somewhere near her in the darkness. She casts her flashlight here and there, looking for the trail of footprints. Then she sees. Then she understands. The footprints are on the wall. Boom! A formless figure grabs her from above.

Shit!

The harrowing jolts experienced throughout writer/director Leigh Whannell’s Insidious: Chapter 3 are intense and the narrative, tying together all three chapters, rewards viewers who saw the god-awful second one more than once.  Given all that it is attempting to do, it’s a surprise that it is so incredibly tight as a story in and of itself.  Truly, the material here is where the disastrous sequel should have gone: back to the beginning in which we get to see the initial team-up of Psychic Rainier and her ghost-busting squad of Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Whannell). 

Whannell focuses, thankfully, on an entirely new situation involving an entirely new family.  Yay for new things!  Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) is a teenage girl coming to terms with the passing of her mother.  She reaches out to Rainer who is reluctant to help her after being taunted by a spirit who is now a series regular.  Once she does help the poor girl – who is unfortunately mauled by a vehicle and ends up with two broken legs all seemingly at the hands of a very troubled demon – she realizes that she needs more help than Quinn’s father (Dermot Mulroney) can provide.

With atmospheric music from series veteran Joseph Bishara, Whannell’s directorial debut is an effectively spooky one.  It has a slow pace that unfolds in typical ghostly fashion with lots of nighttime sequences where shadows move against billowing curtains.  There’s unexpected call-and-response knocking from vacant rooms and thundering noises from above.  It’s all to be expected and, even if you know it’s coming, still manages to startle the senses.

Shaye as the returning ghost communicator is the champion here.  The goodwill she manages to muster here as the narrative explores the loss of her husband manages to compensate for any of the film’s weaker moments involving the Brenner family.  And, once she meets her future two-person crew of techies, the chemistry between all three resumes.  It’s worth mentioning that perhaps – if there truly is going to be another chapter in this successful franchise (and let’s be honest, there WILL BE another one) – Whannell could make the main focus of Chapter 4 the new partnership between Specs, Tucker, and Rainer.

Things continue to go deliciously bump in the night with the downright disturbing Insidious: Chapter 3.

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[tab title="Film Details"]

Insidious: Chapter 3 - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: R for some language.
Runtime:
97 mins
Director
: Leigh Whannell
Writer:
Leigh Whannell
Cast:
Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson
Genre
: Horror | Thriller
Tagline:
This is how you die
Memorable Movie Quote: "Time spent in conversation is never wasted"
Distributor:
Focus Features
Official Site: http://www.insidiouschapter3.com/
Release Date:
June 5, 2015
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
October 6, 2015
Synopsis: A prequel set before the haunting of the Lambert family that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Insidious: Chapter 3 - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - October 6, 2015
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles
: English, English SDH, Spanish
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD); UV digital copy; Digital copy
Region Encoding: A

This is a beautiful release from Sony. It's crisp and detailed and features a bevy of strong shadows and dense blues. The 1080p transfer does not disappoint. Lines are clear and the depth is like a rippling wave extending down some pretty lengthy hallways. Flesh tones are perfectly saturated and the soundtrack – presented here on a standout DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack – is flawless.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Sony loads the blu-ray with some traditional supplemental material.  Nothing is essential viewing but it is all very interesting for fans of the series.  The standout is the inside look at a real psychic medium.  An ultraviolet copy of the film is also included.

  • Origin Story: Making Chapter 3 (20 min).
  • Stunts: The Car Crash (10 min)
  • Macabre Creations (9 min)
  • Cherry Glazerr: Tiptoe Through the Tulips (5 min)
  • Being Haunted: A Psychic Medium Speaks (12 min)
  • Deleted Scenes (5 min)

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