Insidious: The Red Door review

INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR: 

MIDDLING FINAL CHAPTER HAS SOME SCARES BUT IS MORE OF THE SAME! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

SCREEN GEMS AND STAGE 6 FILMS

Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, and Lin Shaye in Insidious: The Red Door

 

            The demonic entities of the Red Door have been unleashed (again) in Insidious: The Red Door, the fifth and final chapter of the Insidious film series dating all the way back to 2010. I actually revisited the first two films and watched the third and fourth installments for the first time throughout the week leading up to this review. 

            While none of the films really do much new with this kind of formula, I do enjoy the first Insidious and consider it a fun throwback to classic haunted house horror movies with familiar but effective scares, stellar camera work, and good performances from the cast. Most of the sequels are more of the same with little surprises though I did like 2015’s Insidious: Chapter 3 quite a bit, it had some decent scares, and I was invested in the teenage girl bound to a wheelchair trying to communicate with the ghost of her deceased mother, the best of the sequels in my opinion. 

            After the disappointment of 2018’s Insidious: The Last Key, the filmmakers decided to go back to the franchise’s roots and continue the storyline of the first two films with Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, The Conjuringfranchise, Aquaman who is also directing this outing), Rose Byrne (Damages, X-Men franchise, Neighbors 1 and 2), and Ty Simpkins (Iron Man 3, Jurassic World, The Whale) reprising their roles from Insidious and 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2. This wasn’t super high on my agenda, but I figured since I’ve never reviewed an Insidious movie before, why not watch all the movies and review the new film? 

            Now that I’ve seen it, I can say that Insidious: The Red Door is…better than The Last Key, but still a middling chapter in the series. It has some genuine scares and even some clever ideas being explored from time to time, but the basic narrative is more of what’s already been done in the other films. 

            Set nine years after the events of Insidious: Chapter 2, Josh Lambert (Wilson) is now divorced from his wife Renai (Byrne), his mother Lorraine has died, and his memories of being possessed in the Further have been repressed. When his now college-aged son Dalton (Simpkins) accidentally unleashes the Red Door’s demons back into his family’s lives, he along with his father must reenter the Further and face their family’s dark past and new terrors that lurk behind the door in hopes of putting these demons to rest for good. 

            The film also stars Hiam Abbas (Munich, Blade Runner 2049, Succession) as Professor Armagan, the film’s producer and Insidious 3 director Leigh Whannell (Upgrade, The Invisible Man (2020)) reprising his role as Specs, Angus Sampson (The Mule (2014), Mad Max: Fury Road, Mortal Kombat (2021)) reprising his role as Tucker, and Lin Shaye (Critters, Snakes on a Plane, Ouija 1 and 2) reprising her role as Elise. 

            Overall, Insidious: The Red Door has some inventive scares and creepy visuals, but…it’s just another Insidiousmovie that doesn’t need to exist. If you’ve seen the other movies, you know exactly what you’re going to get with this, a lot of cheap jump scares, creepy monsters lunging at the screen, and themes about venturing into the spirit world. 

            The plot also feels too overstuffed with Dalton getting attacked by demons at his college and uncovering the truth behind his coma from the first film and the second plotline revolving around Josh trying to reconnect with his ex-wife and relearning about the time he got possessed. Because the film is all about remembering events from the other movies, it doesn’t really expand upon the mythos or possibilities surrounding the Further or the Red Door and instead just recites details that we already know from the earlier films. 

            There are some inventive scares in the film with some of my favorites involving a drawing of the Red Door that Dalton drew in art class which ignites the plot as well as a very unique way of defeating the demons in the end related to said drawing. Also, some of the creepy visuals and camera shots are a lot of fun to look at as well so I can at least appreciate it on a technical aspect despite the weak narrative. 

            Most of the acting is decent but nothing spectacular Patrick Wilson is a fine leading man much like his role in the Conjuring movies though he’s more of a supporting character this time around, I didn’t like Ty Simpkins’ college Dalton at first and though he was too ungrateful but he got more likable as the film went on, and Sinclair Daniel is a standout as Dalton’s roommate Chris and gets some good laughs. Even when they have to say terrible lines like acknowledging “Cooties” twice or “What’s the worst that could happen?”, the cast is at least competent enough to work through it all. 

            Sadly, that’s about all I have to say about Insidious: The Red Door, it’s not a terrible movie nor is it the worst of the Insidious films, but it doesn’t offer much new nor does it elaborate or expand upon the mythos that was established 13 years ago. If you love all the other movies and just want to see how it ends, there’s no harm in going to it, but if you’re looking for a clever, terrifying, and genuinely engaging horror film, watch something else.