Director: Adam Robitel
Year: 2018
Country: Canada/USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Ghosts
Plot:
Returning to her childhood home, the psychic is tasked with trying to rid the house of a strange ghostly entity, only to end up not only stumbling upon a deadly conspiracy within but also managing to find the special demonic entity she accidentally freed years ago forcing them to stop it.
Review:
For the most part, this was a decent enough entry into the series. What really works best for this one is the same style of material that had worked rather well in the proclivity towards jump-scares. The opening flashback showing the events that happened to her as a child, ranging from the introduction of her abilities that forces her down into the basement and encountering the demon for the first time and getting the full confrontation with the family, sets the film off on the proper note. There’s some eerie shots of the ghosts running around in the darkness or whispering demonically behind to the characters has a rather nice and creepy vibe, and that thankfully is continued upon their arrival in the present day. There’s a lot to like with the group walking through the creaking, darkened house with their high-tech gadgets providing the typical type of scares to be usually found here.
That carries on nicely with the various attempts at interacting with the spirits in the house, as these scenes put the film in its greatest overall mindset. These sequences, where she sets about trying to determine the cause of her being summoned to the house all give this one a rather decent start that is greatly enhanced by the second walk-through of the house. Guided along by the ghost whistling through the toy that drives her to make the gruesome discovery in the house and setting the stage for the impressive revelations that spring up in the finale. Not only paying off a series of intriguing questions that are brought up because of the events that come about. With this confrontation bringing about the involvement of the titular demonic being and its uniquely impressive design, backstory and overall set of powers, there’s more than enough to like here that holds it up over it’s flaws.
There are a few issues here, mainly stemming from the films’ reliance and overabundance of jump-scares. There’s more than enough times that it starts to get old and repetitive to have the exact same type of situation occur continuously throughout the film. It’s not scary to have the same shots of characters turning their attention away and then going back only to have a brief shot of a grossly-deformed and misshapen figure standing there growling viciously at them. Knowing it’s going to come everytime out, from the times she’s in the police station or in the tunnel unearthing the boxes left in the house really undermine the effectiveness of the scenes by always doing the expected. It’s expected and really undoes a lot of the film’s good by doing this and ruining the mystique it could’ve had.
The other issue to contend with is the really troubling methods used to denote the sense of being in the outer realm that this takes place in. These scenes reek of being extremely contrived and just plain ludicrous in the way they play out here, with the introduction of characters that should not have anything to do with each other. It’s just ridiculous that these events carry out with these people in this manner, reeking of just being absolutely cliched and riddled with contrivance, much like the idea of the group finding the other person that can go into this dimension to battle the creatures, a concept that increasingly emerges as suspect to have this become realized. The final demon, supposedly the most vicious and intense demon out there that has been haunting her all this time, is a complete non-entity with the complete lack of backstory and a rather underwhelming confrontation that’s the whole point of the film. With some questionable comedy and an overlong finale, these here are what hold this down.
Overview: ***/5
While it’s not the impressive final chapter this really could’ve been, there are some positive elements to be had here that make this an enjoyable if not necessarily engaging effort. Give this a shot if you’ve gotten through the other entries in the series thus far or enjoy this kind of paranormal effort, while those that aren’t into these films at all should heed caution.
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