You can’t hide from your past forever, and for the Lamberts, they’ll find themselves sinking back into The Further as their past hasn’t forgotten them. Marking the directorial debut of star Patrick Wilson, Insidious: The Red Door sees the franchise returning to the family that started it all with a few familiar demons and plenty of new ghouls. With frights on par with the first, it proves the series isn’t ready to be dead and buried just yet.
Nine years have passed since Josh and his son Dalton erased their memories of The Further and the spirits that tormented them. Although they’ve moved past that horrifying experience, it left an unknowing mark on Josh (Patrick Wilson), affecting his marriage and creating a strained relationship with his eldest child.
With Dalton (Ty Simpkins) now away at college, he begins tapping into his repressed childhood memories, thus awakening the spirits who once fixated on him. As Dalton digs deeper into understanding what truly happened, his father attempts to do the same. With the door for possession slowly unlocking and the monsters creeping in, the fractured father-son duo will need to confront their ghosts together.
Insidious has become such a notable horror franchise in the last 12 years. One that carved out such a unique style from the start, and creator Leigh Whannell has done a spectacular job crafting a compelling story woven through five films. I’ve covered the third and fourth films, the latter of which I wasn’t too impressed by. It was a lackluster conclusion to an otherwise memorable and terrifying series. So I was fully game for a return to the original family that first opened our eyes to The Further.
With Whannell once again returning, composing the story alongside screenwriter Scott Teems, we’re given a story that focuses heavily on the relationship of a father and son. It makes sense given the shared experience the two have had, and though they’ve drifted, they have a frightening connection they can’t avoid. And we see how that same theme plays out as Josh confronts his father’s past, a man he’s never known but feels hatred and resentment towards.
The film throws twists on expected jump-scares, keeping you on the edge of your seat. And it also packed some beautifully executed camera tricks—including an impressive shot with a hammer—that left you in spooky awe.
While the first act feels slightly dragged out, Insidious: The Red Door feels like a haunting comfort hug. It’s the perfect conclusion for the original two films, in a way that didn’t see the characters finding an easy way out. And while the last two sequels favored a prequel approach so Lin Shaye’s beloved Elise character could lead, this film positions the franchise on a new potential path forward, which looks to be the upcoming Thread: An Insidious Tale.
Jordy Reviews It 
0 comments on “INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR Review”