“INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3” SHINES A LIGHT ON `GODMOTHER OF HORROR'

Press release

While dialing up the chills, Columbia Pictures' new horror thriller “Insidious: Chapter 3” turns back the clock as it takes place years before the first two chapters which detailed the escalating haunting of the Lambert family. With the family’s fate resolved in “Insidious: Chapter 2,” director and screenwriter Leigh Whannell was keen to shine the spotlight on a constant in the tales: indomitable psychic Elise Rainier, portrayed by Lin Shaye.

Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

The legendary actress was recently honored for her contributions in the horror genre by being named the “Godmother of Horror” at last month's Wizard World Comic Con in Philadelphia. Besides reprising her role as gifted psychic Elise Rainier in “Insidious: Chapter 3,” Shaye also starred in more than 20 other horror films, including “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Snakes on a Plane” and “Ouija.”

Elise had been killed off as part of the struggle to save the Lamberts, but “I love the character and I wondered how I could bring her back,” says Whannell. “Dealing with ‘ghost Elise’ wasn’t the idea; I wanted her alive! People enjoyed the time-spanning storytelling that we advanced in the second movie, and I felt that would help me find a story that gives deeper meaning to Elise’s journey.

“I started to devise an origin story, a prequel set a few years before the first movie wherein concepts central to Insidious take shape, and where we could explore Elise’s background. Once I started writing this, I fell in love with the piece.”

Shaye was impressed at how Whannell’s script “gives you more details about the characters; in “Insidious: Chapter 3,” we learn more about Elise’s personal life. These ideas were exciting, because character and story are what matter to me.”

Producer Jason Blum enthuses that “when you see Lin playing Elise on-screen, you believe that she’s able to communicate with demons and ghosts. In most movies about the paranormal, it’s hard to make the character of the expert feel credible, but Lin is terrific at doing just that.”

Whannell says, “Lin is an actor whom you love having on the set, because she’s 100% committed at all times. When you’re a writer, it’s encouraging having an actor talk over your script so much with you.

“I had a lot of discussions with Lin while I was writing `Insidious: Chapter 3,' and I feel we’ve made her character even stronger than in the first two films – with a real range of emotions that she can express so well.”

Producer James Wan affirms, “Lin Shaye is the beating heart of these movies, and now the new movie is able to continue and expand upon the series’ legacy.”

“It’s a great new story that transpires in the same universe,” elaborates producer Oren Peli. “Leigh introduces a new family – and revisits some favorite characters from the previous chapters, like Elise. We get to see how she evolved to be the Elise audiences got to know and love in the first two Insidious chapters – the woman who is selflessly willing to sacrifice herself to fight demonic forces for a family’s sake.”

Shaye concludes, “I hear all the time from people who love these movies, so I was aware of the expectations. The challenge was to not repeat ourselves; Elise has different dilemmas in `Insidious: Chapter 3,' and Leigh gave me a lot to work with and to play. Elements of this new story, what this family faces down and what Elise does, will touch people in a very human way.”

“Insidious: Chapter 3” has been given a Parental Guidance (PG) rating by the MTRCB. This movie contains scenes with several scary and horrifying images, blasting sounds, and themes (a child communicating with the dead, dealing with the supernatural, etc.) that may be disturbing for very young viewers. Parental guidance and discretion is strictly advised.

“Insidious: Chapter 3” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

DERMOT MULRONEY STARS IN HIS FIRST HORROR FILM, “INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3”

Press release

Talented actor Dermot Mulroney (“August: Osage County,” “My Bestfriend's Wedding”) plays widowed father Sean who struggles to hold his family together amid a supernatural disturbance in Columbia Pictures' horror-thriller “Insidious: Chapter 3.”

“Sean is a father that has lost his wife to disease and who is trying to keep his kids in order and get through the day,” Mulroney describes his character. “So he is this worried dad that is also a hard-working blue-collar type of guy that lives in an apartment. And it’s hard for him to keep up with the day-to-day responsibilities of his home because of the loss his family is suffering.”

“Insidious: Chapter 3” is the new movie in the terrifying horror series, written and directed by franchise co-creator Leigh Whannell. The film is set years before the haunting of the Lambert family, and the psychic Elise’s battles with spirits from The Further, in “Insidious” and “Insidious: Chapter 2.”

In “Chapter 3,” an ordinary family comes under siege: 17-year-old aspiring actress Quinn (Stefanie Scott), 9-year-old tech-geek Alex (Tate Berney), and their widowed father Sean. Wife and mother Lily’s passing has hurt each member of the Brenner family, but Quinn is particularly sensitive at a vulnerable age and makes the fateful decision to contact clairvoyant Elise in hopes of communicating with Lily.

Leigh Whannell was fortunate in that neither member of the on-screen father/daughter duo had ever acted in a horror movie before, but were raring to go.

Mulroney, a seasoned screen actor for over 25 years, says, “I have a teenaged son who is a huge fan of the horror genre, so I’ve taken him to the first-night showings – and become a fan myself; that’s how I saw the first two `Insidious' movies. Leigh Whannell enjoys these movies too, and his enthusiasm is contagious. I think his concept for `Insidious: Chapter 3' is ingenious: to go back in time and therefore allow himself great range with new characters, while at the same time give the audience the characters they already know – like Lin Shaye, who is so authentic as Elise.

“But, for our new characters, Leigh doesn’t paint a family that’s like a cartoon. They are in crisis, and that’s where the story starts; it’s as much about grief and reconciliation as what might be jumping out from somewhere. In talking with Leigh, we’d speak a lot about emotional resonance, and Lin and I discussed how we felt that the horror extends from what the family is going through.”

“Dermot is a wonderful actor to work with,” praises Shaye. “As a director, Leigh is able to color in things that I’ve thought about, which comes from his also being an actor.”

Mulroney adds, “That’s how you know Leigh will be able to help you get to the most important parts of a character. Leigh is an easy guy to relate to, and as a director nothing gets by him because he has the script memorized and knows what he wants for even the smallest scenes.”

Whannell remarks, “For a first-time director, it’s great to have an actor like Dermot who has done so many films; he knows about the technical aspects of making movies, and can access the feelings we need for his character to express – or not express.”

Mulroney concludes, “The Insidious movies are about the anticipation of fear, and they use old-school methods to achieve what other movies fail at using modern technology.”

“Insidious: Chapter 3” has been given a Parental Guidance (PG) rating by the MTRCB. This movie contains scenes with several scary and horrifying images, blasting sounds, and themes (a child communicating with the dead, dealing with the supernatural, etc.) that may be disturbing for very young viewers. Parental guidance and discretion is strictly advised.

Opening across the Philippines on June 05, 2015, “Insidious: Chapter 3” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

“INSIDIOUS” CO-CREATOR NOW DIRECTS “CHAPTER 3”

Press release

After penning the scripts for “Insidious” and “Insidious: Chapter 2,” Leigh Whannell takes the reins on “Insidious: Chapter 3” by stepping in for co-creator James Wan and directing the new film.

Producer Oren Peli says, “Leigh understands the world of Insidious so well and also sees all sorts of possibilities for `The Further' and for the characters grappling with it, all of which made him the perfect choice to direct the new chapter.

Producer Jason Blum elaborates, “The people who created a movie make the best sequels – which I don’t talk about with them until after they’ve made the first movie, so that it isn’t compromised – and carry the storytelling forward. When Leigh said, ‘I have an idea for a new movie,’ that was ideal. We wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for Leigh to get to do what he wanted to do in taking the director’s chair, because we all felt he should be the next director for these stories.”

For his part, the new director, Leigh Whannell offers, “It’s a privilege to be part of telling these stories that connect with people all over the world. Here was this fantastic opportunity, to be able to direct a movie that is going to be released in theaters with people having the chance to see it in a communal way. I love watching the `Insidious' movies with audiences, especially when they jump out of their chairs.”

James Wan, who had directed the previous “Insidious” movies from longtime filmmaking partner Whannell’s screenplays, remarks, “I am amazed and proud to see what Leigh has done with `Insidious: Chapter 3.' Leigh understands the nuances that you need to create horror scenes, to create suspense and tension.

“There was no better person to take the reins of the Insidious franchise; I was honored to pass the torch on to my great bud! When I see him directing, even though this was his first feature, he looks like a natural. He’s so comfortable and he has fun doing it.”

“I’ve had a great education,” says Whannell. “This came from sitting behind James and watching him direct, and seeing what he does in the cutting room, with music, with all of it. He is the master of modern horror.

“We both have similar tastes: we like to shoot continuously and not rely on editing or CG effects, working with what’s practical within the camera and within the frame.”

Even so, the writer/director notes that “my style is a little different than James’s, which is important because while I am following the template of the first two movies and Insidious: Chapter 3 certainly exists in the same universe, I knew I wasn’t going to do a carbon copy of what James did. I wanted to continue to build up these stories’ world but not repeat what we’d done before.”

As it happened, production of “Insidious: Chapter 3” overlapped with the making of Wan’s newest movie as director, the big-budget “Fast & Furious 7.” Wan was still able to visit Whannell’s set multiple times – and can be glimpsed on-screen in a cameo role – but more frequently kept up with the project by way of modern communication. “I would text Leigh with scare tips,” remembers Wan. “He would text me back with how to blow up cars [for Furious 7]!

“We were doing what we always do in person anyway – bounce ideas off each other, and help each other out on projects.”

“Insidious: Chapter 3” has been given a Parental Guidance (PG) rating by the MTRCB. This movie contains scenes with several scary and horrifying images, blasting sounds, and themes (a child communicating with the dead, dealing with the supernatural, etc.) that may be disturbing for very young viewers. Parental guidance and discretion is strictly advised.

Opening across the Philippines on June 05, 2015, “Insidious: Chapter 3” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.