Ever since the release of “Insidious” in 2010, audiences have flocked to the theaters to see the new installments and their terrifying, innovative storylines. The most recent film and prequel “Insidious: Chapter 3” features some of the old cast, but follows a new family with new terror.

The third “Insidious” film follows Quinn Brenner, played by newcomer Stefanie Scott, after she tries to contact her dead mother, on the other side. Consulting the town’s ex-psychic, Elise, played by Lin Shaye who had roles in the two previous films, Brenner is surprised to hear that the thing she is connecting with may not be her mother. In one of the best lines of the films, Elise reminds us that when you try to contact one of the dead, all of them can hear you. For reasons unknown, Elise is unwilling to help Brenner further, though she feels responsible for what’s happening to her.

Slowly but surely, Brenner starts having visions of a tiny dead man with a breathing mask around her and her home. As things escalate, she violently breaks her legs and now that she is sedentary, Brenner becomes increasingly scared of the man who seems to be coming closer and closer to her each night.

Although I knew Elise was important to the new story in “Insidious: Chapter 3,” I felt that Scott deserved to be the star of the show. We knew from the beginning she would need to be saved, but it’s unfortunate she had to break her legs. I wanted to she her be her own hero.

Despite Brenner occasionally seeming like a damsel in distress, the theme of family and strength in the film was strong. In the end, both Elise and her father, played by Dermot Mulroney, showed great support and superb acting portraying the love between them. The storyline surrounding her dead mother also played a role in the theme without overpowering the script and making it seem recycled.

The background provided about Elise’s life as a psychic and beyond was more prominent in the film than expected. The plot is woven well with Brenner’s struggles as well as Elise’s story which we learn about sparingly throughout the film.

One of the most disappointing things within the “Insidious: Chapter 3” was the creatures or characters that drove the scares on screen. The man with a breathing mask delivered most of the suspense-filled scenes but his storyline lacked depth. We never found out anything about why he couldn’t breathe. Maybe creators left out his storyline to expand the trilogy further.

One of the scariest but most overdone characters was the evil dead bride that was center in the two other films. While she is the worst thing that follows you once you leave the theater, we learned everything we needed to know about her in the previous two films. She seems more like a prop than a driving force in “Insidious: Chapter 3.”

The terrifying horror-filled drama deserves a high B. The acting done by Scott, Mulroney and Shaye truly delivered the scares to make them seem as real as possible. While jump scares and climactic music is important to audiences of a scary movie, it’s the innovation and imagery that stays with viewers. “Insidious: Chapter 3” was nothing short of chilling, but it lacked the dread filled experience taken from the other two films.