THIS IS HOW YOU DIE.

Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) wants the help of retired parapsychologist Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) to contact her dead mother, but finds a much more sinister demon instead.

Leigh Whannell, one of the writers behind the earlier films and Saw (2004), made his directing debut with this prequel where Elise finds a reason to use her talents, even though she knows what will happen to her in the future. We also learn how she first met her goofy team of demonologists.

Shaye is solid, but the story mediocre and the scares won’t make you flinch noticeably.

2015-U.S.-Canada. 97 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell. Cast: Lin Shaye (Elise Rainier), Dermot Mulroney (Sean Brenner), Stefanie Scott (Quinn Brenner), Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Hayley Kiyoko. 

Trivia: Co-produced by James Wan and Oren Peli. Followed by Insidious: The Last Key (2018).