Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/531603
JUNE 24-30, 2015 UCW 19 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Apparently, Insidious: Chapter 3 (97 minutes) is the directorial debut for Leigh W hannell, who wrote the first t wo films in the franchise (and a number of other respectable horror films). I don't think he made a particularly bad director, but he didn't do any thing that impressed me, either. Frankly, the sound cues did most of the heav y lif ting on scaring me. Maybe they should let the sound guy direct the next one. The film is set shortly before the events of the first film. Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) meets with Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scot t) to counsel her about how it's a bad idea to try to contact her recently deceased mother. Evidently, when you speak to the spirit world, all the dead can hear, and most of them are jerks. In the grand t radit ion of girls w it h dead mot hers, Quinn is audit ioning for a perform- ing ar t s academy in New York (see also Save the Last Dance). During t he audit ion she sees a hand wav ing at her, t ank s t he audit ion and commiserates w it h her f riend Maggie (Hayley K iyoko). The wav ing hand appears again, t his t ime to lure her into a car accident t hat break s bot h her legs. She w inds up ut terly dependent on her fat her Sean (Dermot Mulroney, t r y ing his best). A s t he stor y progresses, musical cues help- f ully inform us t hat somet hing scar y is about to happen to t he helpless girl ly ing alone in t he dark . The nex t for t y minutes or so of t he mov ie go like t his: (1) Quinn is by herself. (2) Scar y music plays. (3) Somet hing happens and Quinn st ar t s screaming. (4) Sean arrives and wonders what is going on. Wash, rinse, repeat ad nauseam. The first time this sequence plays out the audience might rightfully expect Quinn to demand that someone sleep in the room with her. Apparently, Quinn likes being scared, and doesn't really suggest any of the more obvi- ous solutions (Sleepover? Dog?); instead, she is content to play monster bait for days at a time. Eventually, the at tacks escalate, and a faceless golem of Quinn, with only half-formed limbs, crawls along the f loor to grab the real Quinn. No prequel would be complete without work- ing in as many references to the other films in the universe as possible. About an hour in, Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh W hannell) join the cast as the creators of a web series, brought in to help Quinn and family fig- ure out how to get rid of what is in their apart- ment. Spoiler Alert: They can't. Overall, Insidious: Chapter 3 is less an original entry in the franchise and more composed of elements discarded from earlier draf ts of the first t wo films. The characters are mainstays familiar to any horror movie fan — the over- worked single father, the vulnerable girl with a dead mom, the psychic, the support team and the evil presence they all work together to fight. At the end of the day, the best part of the film was the vintage Dolph Lundgren Masters of the Universe T-shirt worn by Tucker. By the way, if anyone wants to start Christmas shopping early, that T-shirt just went to the top of my list. Now playing at Patriot 14 + IMAX HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Deja Vu All Over Again Insidious: Chapter 3 (Rated PG-13) . by HEATHER GRIFFITHS Best of Fayetteville Awards Party on September 15th. Mark your calendars for the fun and vote for your favorite people, businesses, organizations and venues. Corporate Sponsors: Utley & Knowles CPAs