52
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 78TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeAs a vehicle for Shaye, a veteran character actress getting the most screen time she’s ever been given, it’s a blast to watch her anchor this atmospheric look at the personal costs and triumphs of devoting your life to duking it out with nasty presences from the other side.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweThe Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweInsidious co-creator Leigh Whannell’s economical script vividly reimagines Elise’s motivations for using her “gift” to aid the demon-afflicted while providing a clearer plotline that avoids many of the convoluted indulgences of the first and second episodes.
- 67The A.V. ClubThe A.V. ClubThe motif of grief runs throughout Insidious: Chapter 3, which is surprisingly thematically rich for the third installment of a horror franchise. This emotional undercurrent informs the fright scenes, which otherwise lean rather heavily on jump scares.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreWhatever else Whannell, making his directing debut, manages in this third chapter of this soon-to-be-beaten-to-death series, casting Shaye and giving the actress who dates back to the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” her due pays off.
- You jump out of your skin the first few times the skeleton pops out at you. By the end of the ride, you’ve gotten a good look and it’s not so much scary as hokey.
- 60EmpireEmpireOnce again combining a sense of genuine dread with a mischievous vein of humour, Insidious Chapter 3 successfully closes the trilogy with its beginning.
- 50Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSlant MagazineEd GonzalezIn lieu of advancing a view of the dead's dominion that doesn't abide by the law of "just becauses," Chapter 3 is often content to wink at the ways the first two films spooked audiences.
- 50HitfixDrew McWeenyHitfixDrew McWeenyThere's nothing particularly wrong with the ghost story itself. It makes sense, there's an internal logic to the way things happen, and Whannell does his best to keep a certain pace up so there are near-constant ghost attacks punctuated by scenes of the characters trying to figure out how to handle them. Quinn's just not a very interesting character.
- 50The PlaylistKimber MyersThe PlaylistKimber MyersThe first two films faltered in their final act, and Chapter 3 experiences some of that as well, though it never achieves their heights. There are some nice scares, but a few formerly central characters are basically forgotten in favor of wrapping things up.
- 40VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasWhereas Wan (who retains a producer credit here, and makes a cameo appearance) is the sort of director who can effortlessly turn a billowing curtain or creaking floorboard into an unbearable portent of dread, Whannell rarely makes the neck hairs quiver, let alone stand at attention.