Sony Entertainment, out now on download,  21 May Blu-ray and DVD

‘I don’t have memories from this place, I have scars!’

Beginning with the original Insidious back in 2010, James Wan and Leigh Whannell moved on from their incredibly popular SAW movies to a more supernatural series – which has since seen franchises like The Conjuring and its spin-offs added to the fold; period pieces that mirror the more modern spookiness in the originals. Indeed, The Last Key alone marks the fourth instalment in the Insidious run which includes a sequel and two prequels, and it shows no sign of running out of steam yet, box office wise. Are the ideas still there, though? is the question.

Flashing all the way back to 1953, the film begins by showing us what kind of home life the young Elise (the main protagonist of the series) had growing up. Turns out it was terrible: having to try to protect a nervous little brother and coping with an abusive father who’s the assistant warden of the prison their house is attached to (Josh Stewart from The Dark Knight Rises). Her dad won’t believe that she can see ghosts, and even beats her for saying it – but that won’t help any of them when Elise inadvertently opens a doorway for a malevolent spirit and gets her mother killed.

Years later, the grown up Elise (played, as always, by the superb Lin Shaye) is contacted by Ted Garza (Fringe and Arrow’s Kirk Acevedo), who is experiencing paranormal activity in her old house. Reluctant at first, she agrees to take the case along with her constant companions the nerdy Specs (Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson). What she finds when she gets there eventually ties in with her past and her brother, Christian (Bruce Davison from X-Men), who blames her for taking off when she couldn’t stand it at home anymore.

But when Christian’s children become involved – Melissa (Spencer Locke) is attacked by the spirit Elise let out and psychic Imogen (Caitlin Gerard) must venture into The Further to help her aunt – it becomes a battle to release many more souls that Keyface is keeping imprisoned in that other realm.

The Insidious movies – and indeed all the others in this burgeoning ‘universe’ – know exactly what they’re doing by now, and what’s more they do it well. They keep the tension building throughout and the scares coming, helped in part by a jumpy soundtrack which is enough to frighten you to death in itself. For fans of these characters, the insight into Elise’s background is very welcome and brings the whole series round full circle – literally, as we segue into the original film at the very end. But for my money Keyface is possibly the best bad guy in the whole franchise. Disturbing in a way Buffy’s Gentlemen were, this one gets inside your head as well as proving a shocking visual monster.

Extras here include an alternate ending, which is significantly less suspenseful and has Elise delivering out of place lines like ‘Get a breath-mint, asshole!’ whilst battling Keyface. It’s worth a look, however, just to see why they went with the one they did. There are eight deleted scenes, including: Specs trying to convince Elise to take the job (and a mention of Quinn’s case from Insidious: Chapter 3); a drawn out scene where Elise wanders around her house and sees Keyface at the window; a prayer session which hints at the red door Elise opened; an explanation of the dad’s bomb shelter; Imogen getting trapped in a wardrobe and Elise confronting the ghost of her father; a brief but creepy scene with the mechanical monkey; plus snapshots of a spectral baby murderer and the criminal electrocuted in the chair mentioned at the beginning.

There are also three short featurettes, the first examining Keyface, the second looking at The Further and the production design, then the third – and most interesting – ‘Becoming Elise’ in which people like Shaye discuss the appeal of the character (‘Leigh said to me, “It’s too bad we killed you, because we’d like to bring you back.”’).

All in all, a good solid addition to the series – and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see everyone back for the next one, including Imogen joining the team.

Verdict: Go deeper into The Further! 8/10     

Paul Kane

Click here to order The Last Key from Amazon.co.uk