The location for the Taxi scene was not secure until a week before
shooting. Initial locations were constantly being changed throughout
production as a permit could not be obtained; thus having to delay
shooting for that scene until a spot was finally secure.
The release of “Gerald’s Game” revealed that Flanagan had long been carrying around the Stephen King
book on which that film was based as it was his dream project. Were
“Before I Wake” to be released when it should have been, it would have
been easy to see even then that Flanagan was a fan of King’s style. This
unfolds a lot like a King short story with its focus on grief and
lessons about being careful what you wish for. Clearly inspired by the
author, “Before I Wake” is evidence of a young horror voice working
through ideas that one would have called promising three years ago—a
promise Flanagan has already fulfilled for most. He’s a filmmaker
interested in human emotions and reactions more than he is things that
go bump in the night.
“Before I Wake” opens with a scene reminiscent of the opening of Joachim Trier’s “Thelma.” A man (Dash Mihok) nervously
watches a boy sleeping. The man pulls a gun on the child, clearly
terrified. What would make a man almost kill a young boy? He can’t do
it, and we cut to the boy being adopted by Mark and Jessie Hobson (Thomas Jane & Kate Bosworth), a couple who we learn has not long ago lost their own son in a tragic drowning. The boy is named Cody (Jacob Tremblay, who shot this before his breakthrough in “Room”), and he’s, well, special.
After
Cody has gone to sleep one night, Mark and Jessie see brightly colored
butterflies around their living room. Mark goes to capture one, only to
have it disappear as Cody wakes. Yes, Cody can manifest his dreams.
Rather than turn this into a pure boogeyman tale, Flanagan channels the
grief of parents who have lost a child through his concept when Cody
“manifests” Mark and Jessie’s dead son. What if someone could give you
one more chance to see, touch, and even hear someone you’ve lost? Of
course, it comes with a hitch—kids have nightmares too, and Cody’s are
of a monstrous creation he calls “The Canker Man.”
Flanagan cleverly weaves his emotional themes through his horror
story, embodied in lines like “Sometimes scary things go away when we
understand them a little,” one that has heightened meaning when one
considers the story when the origin of “The Canker Man” has been
revealed. It’s things like this—the way Flanagan refuses to merely tell a
jump scare story—that elevate his work. And he’s phenomenal with
actors, drawing a great performance from Carla Gugino
in “Gerald’s Game” and the underrated Kate Bosworth here, who’s
fantastic at conveying a hard-to-imagine blend of grief, anxiety, fear,
and hope. Flanagan loves close-ups, and he directs his actors well
within them. He’s equally deft at the reveal shots we come to expect
from horror such as a figure in a doorway in the background in the
middle of the night. When “Before I Wake” gets to the jump scare
portions in the mid-section of the movie, especially in a misguided
bully subplot, that's when it falters, almost as if Flanagan is way less
interested in boogeymen than he is the face of a grieving mother.
“Before I Wake” culminates in a sequence almost out of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” in its dreamscape visuals and one is reminded of Flanagan’s skill with framing (and he uses a great score by Danny Elfman
effectively), but also that not everything is coming together here
thematically or narratively. Like the butterflies that flit across the
frame throughout the movie, the various pieces of “Before I Wake” are
individually beautiful but don’t quite cohere into a complete vision in
the end. While there's more to like here than in half the horror
offerings on Netflix, "Before I Wake" needed one more pass in the
writing or editing process, or needed to be done later in Flanagan’s
career when he could more confidently stick the landing. Given his rise
to fame in the few years this has been on the shelf, maybe Netflix will
let their horror all-star remake it someday.
The poster is similar to 1985 horror movie titled HOUSE. See more »
Quotes
Elise Rainier:
I'm going to get the attention of all the spirits in this house. I need
things that were important to Garza. Specs, go upstairs. There is a
bible he held very dear to him. It was a red, King James version; I need
you to find it. Take Imogen with you.
Specs:
Okay.
Elise Rainier:
And do not let her out of your sight.
Specs:
I won't.
[Specs and Imogen head upstairs]
Elise Rainier:
Tucker and I are going down to the fallout shelter.
Tucker:
What- I get the death chamber and he gets bible camp with the most beautiful girl on earth? That's not a ...
[...] See more »
Don't go alone if you must see the tepid, but mostly adequate ghost
story "Insidious: The Last Key." Really, don't even bother to see this
third sequel in theaters unless you really, really want to. Yes, I too
know the Siren call of a new horror film on opening night.
But really,
whatever you do, don't watch "The Last Key" without the
emotional support of a buddy who can confirm that you're not just
imagining this: these movies are still getting incrementally better, a trend that began with "Insidious: Chapter 2." And "The Last Key" does feel like it's 70-minutes dripping wet (even if it's a shocking 103 minutes?). And the makers of "The Last Key" do pull
enough punches that you'll actually wish the rest of the movie weren't
as dependent on jump scares to establish terror. No, you may think you
should see "The Last Key" with a friend because being sociable is a good
excuse for poor life choices. But the best rationalization for seeing
"The Last Key" with another person is being able to look at another
soul, and realizing you're not losing it when you think: wait, this one
is almost good.
If you must know what this one is about, you should be forewarned that plot, themes, and characters barely matter in the "Insidious" films.
That's not a good or a bad thing, it's just something you should accept
now that you're presumably committed to watch the third sequel in a
cheapo horror series. That said: when we last saw broody psychic Elise (Lin Shaye),
she was more convinced than ever that she must use her ability to
communicate with ghosts to help unfortunate home-owners who are too
stupid to cut bait, and move into less supernaturally busy environs. In
this lofty goal, Elise is aided by ostensibly lovable tech-savvy
goofuses Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (series co-creator, and "The Last Key" screenwriter Leigh Whannell). And that's about it, that's their story.
Now,
Elise must return to her childhood New Mexico home to relive formative
traumas involving the mysterious murder of her angelic, but powerless
mother Audrey (Tessa Ferrer).
Mind you, the house where Elise was raised overlooks some kind of oil
derrick and a prison too. It's also where she and her poor brother
Christian (Pierce Pope, who is replaced in the film's present day with the somewhat more mature Bruce Davison) were given corporal punishment by deadbeat dad Gerald (Josh Stewart),
who may or may not have been haunted by a demon. Also, Christian has
two adult daughters, and they're also in danger, even if they don't live
in that one house.
None of that really matters here since "The Last Key" is, like its predecessors and the other horror franchises begat by "Saw" and "The Conjuring" co-creator James Wan, as
programmatic as a Rube Goldberg machine. These shock-dispensing
mechanisms are all so shoddily produced that you should know by now that
they will inevitably go off the rails when they must wrap up with a
good climactic jolt.
Thankfully, the build-up to several major
scare scenes in "The Last Key" is relatively subtle. There are
even several moments where the filmmakers psych you out, and make you
believe that something's going to jump out at you ... but then nothing
does. Which is usually when something really jumps out at you.
But in this film, you have to wait a little longer. That kind of
defiance of expectations is much appreciated if you go into this new
"Insidious" film expecting it to not be good enough to coast on
its artful sound design—some really nice floor-boarding creaking, and
doorknob jiggling—and even some (dare I say) atmospheric sets.
Ultimately, "The Last Key" just isn't good enough to break the
years-hardened mold of expectations that was established and
then confirmed by the last three "Insidious" movies. Everything looks
different, but nothing has changed: Shaye performs a thankless task
admirably, and constantly looks vulnerable enough to cry at the drop of a
hat. Whannell never develops his ideas enough to offer a sensible take
on personal loss, survivor's guilt, or domestic abuse. And there are
several moments where you can't help but wonder "Are these characters
really that dumb," "Why aren't they calling the cops," or "What does
that even mean?"
So yes, "The Last Key" is still rather ...
limited in its appeal. But it's also good enough to feature a
momentarily clever twist (if you don't overthink it), and it's got a
couple of good fake-outs. And it is awfully fun whenever you can
contrive an excuse to turn to your neighbor, and (discreetly) whisper
a joke whenever something silly happens (even when it's not always
intentionally silly). With these limbo-low expectations in mind: you may
enjoy "The Last Key" well enough. Just don't forget to bring a friend.
Thanks for reading and have fun watching Insidious, in cinemas January 17, 2018.
This is a new series I want to start and it is called 16 minutes. In those 16 minutes I will put all trailer which have been published in week 1 of 2018.
Enjoy the video and have a great start into this week.
