Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Insidious: The Last Key'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The month of January is the place where the worst movies go to die. Opening "Insidious: The Last Key" this time of year is like hanging out a sign urging folks not to go and see it.

A character who was killed in the first "Insidious" movie is the focus of the fourth, and in that simple fact is contained all of the absurdity of this franchise. However, it is kind of cool the star of a film aimed at young people is 74-year-old Linn Shaye. She plays Elise, a parapsychologist.

"People who need help with matters that can't be explained come to me," she said. "These hauntings can be terrifying things."

Elise is called to Nevada along with her two assistants to investigate scary goings on at the home where she grew up, telling them, "to end this evil I need to go deeper into the further."

I didn't see the first surprise coming, and let's just say it lived up to its name as a jump scare. The rest of the scares are telegraphed well in advance, which I appreciated because I do scare so easily. I like a little warning, but devoted fans of horror might not be so forgiving.

I was quite interested in the lengthy back story that opens the film, which shows Elise's tough childhood and the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. But, what I found truly creepy is the way Elise's male assistants hit on her nieces. They do so in a way that's actually scarier than any of the jolts provided by the monster, especially in this time of increased awareness of sexual harassment.

This is the first of more than 200 movies I will see this year for my job. Some are so good watching them doesn't feel like work, but going to see this one definitely felt like hard duty.