Tuesday Blus: Insidious Fourtune for Robitel’s Franchise Entry

Scaring up one-hundred-and-sixty-million for its final worldwide box office take, the fourth installment of the James Wan originated franchise, Insidious: The Last Key was the second highest opener for the series and the highest grossing new release from January of 2018. That said, Adam Robitel’s contribution to the series doesn’t hold up as well on a re-watch, even if it allows Lin Shaye front and center stage (and arguably better than some of the other entries). Still, for those looking for something a little more noteworthy from the director, his first film, the inventive found footage horror title The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) will perhaps be more readily cherished in retrospect.

From our theatrical review of the film: “A nonsensical resolution for an entity whose mettle is not quite as insidious as the film’s own brand has tried relentlessly to establish attempts to sell a similar message to Jennifer Kent’s incomparably superior The Babadook (2014) in that evil must ultimately be vanquished by the purity born from bonds which are able to acknowledge the eternal duel between good and evil and therefore keep the latter’s constant tendrils and temptations at bay.” Unnecessary and far from noteworthy, Insidious: The Final Key should provide the final nail in the coffin for the film series—however, should it prove profitable at the box office, it will likely become a corpse yet again exhumed.”

Disc Review:

Universal presents Insidious: The Final Key in 2.29:1 with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. On a smaller screen, the title’s various jump scares are automatically less effective, and the jumbled ambience of this latest installment also hobbles its home entertainment capabilities. The usual garden variety studio special features are on hand, including an alternate ending, eight deleted scenes, and four mini-segments devoted to various aspects of the film, including an overview of the Insidious universe, a glance at The Further, a featurette devoted to Shaye’s Elise, and even a small homage to this newly designed demon specific to this fourth chapter.

Film Review: ★★/☆☆☆☆☆
Disc Review: ★★★/☆☆☆☆☆