Insidious: The Red Door is a 2023 horror thriller directed by Patrick Wilson from a screenplay by Scott Teems, from a story and based on characters from Leigh Whannell.

To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family’s dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

The cast includes Ty Simpkins, Patrick Wilson, Hiam Abbass, Sinclair Daniel, Andrew Astor, and Rose Byrne.

Insidious: The Red Door made its debut in theaters on July 7th, courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

THE GOOD

As a self-proclaimed horror aficionado, I’ve seen every one of the Insidious movies in theaters. The first film came out way back in 2010 and was directed by James Wan, same with Insidious 2 a few years later. Chapter 3 served as the prequel to the first two films and marked the directorial debut of writer Leigh Whannel, who also starred in Specs, as one of the paranormal investigators in the first two films. The fourth film was released in 2018 and directed by Adam Robitel with a storyline focused more on Lin Shaye’s character.

In general, I have enjoyed the Insidious films, and feel like it has been a very solid and consistent franchise from the beginning. It may not do anything exceptionally well, but the films have always had a clear identity, great characters, and a nice balance of horror and humor. After three years I was excited for the 5th entry in the franchise, so I made sure to make my way to the theater for Insidious: The Red Door on opening night. So, was this another solid addition to the franchise or did they finally drop the ball? Keep reading to find out!

Alright, so this is going to be a bit of a multi-faceted review, because although there is plenty about the film that I did like, there is a lot that really pissed me off if I am being completely honest, but I will talk about all of that later in the review. First with the positives, Insidious: The Red Door does plenty of good things. I thought the acting was solid and it was nice to see the original cast back together. The story had a really interesting connection to the first film which I thought was really cool and set the stage nicely. As far as the horror elements the film serves up a great horror feel and lots of effective jump scares and creepy moments of something lurking in the background. Similar to other films in the franchise the production value for Insidious: The Red Door was top-notch, particularly the seamless transition from the real world to The Further.

The cast was one of the film’s bigger strengths, particularly the return of Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Wilson, who was also very solid in his directorial debut, once again proved his worth as an actor with solid on-screen confidence. He also did some great things behind the camera with what I felt was some creative camera work and a shooting style that seemed to fit the film. I am a big fan of Byrne in general, and even though she has a very small role in the film her presence is definitely felt.

The supporting cast was fine in terms of what they had to work with, and the film also had some great cameos which I enjoyed. I felt like the technical elements were great pretty much from start to finish which has always been a staple of the franchise, making for some very scary demons/evil entities. Once again kudos to the make-up and special effects team for some terrifying visuals throughout the film.

THE BAD

Insidious: The Red Door is not without its issues, and I honestly wish I could have gone without investing too much time in this section but here we are. Now as I said earlier in the review the acting was solid and I honestly liked the premise and the overall direction of the film, but the execution and screenplay were severely lacking. I won’t go too in-depth because as usual, I refuse to offer up any spoilers, but the film is quite ambitious in terms of the story which means you really had to sell it and build a solid foundation. I have no issue with the film making it so you need to have seen the other movies to fully understand what was going on because, at the end of the day, it is a sequel in a pretty successful horror franchise, but a paper-thin script turned a great idea into a bit of a mess by the end.

The character development was lazy making some of the more important connections in the film feel a bit forced or corny. Insidious: The Red Door delves more into the “The Further” just like prior entries, but this time around, the story relies heavily on events that transpired years prior in the first film making it so setting the stage was extremely important. To me, it just felt like the screenplay glossed over too many important elements of storytelling, making it difficult for viewers to become invested in what was transpiring on screen.

Now I mentioned how I actually thought the third act was pretty solid all things considered just in terms of how things came together, but I was disappointed in terms of how the film actually ended. A good example would be the recently released horror film The Boogeyman (our review here), which had what I felt was a fantastic ending. With horror films, it’s okay to have a quote-unquote happy ending, but I like when the final seconds feel a bit ominous because all things considered, it is a horror movie. I want to feel a bit uneasy leaving the theater, instead of that “oh well seems like it all worked out in the end” feeling. Insidious: The Red Door simply failed to get me excited for a sequel which is too bad considering the overall success of the franchise. I guess part of me also misses the original formula of a couple of nerdy paranormal investigators biting off more than they can chew when a family reports an evil presence in their home.

THE VERDICT

An otherwise solid horror thriller held back by what felt like an ambitious yet ultimately rushed screenplay lacking key storytelling elements, Insidious: The Red Door still packs some scares but fails to live up to its full potential. I really wanted this movie to be better and kept waiting for it to turn the corner, but even though the third act does save it in some respects as a whole the experience failed to leave a real impression on me. I do wish I re-watched the first couple films prior to seeing Insidious: The Red Door, and who knows maybe I will appreciate it more the second time around. Just to reiterate this is not a horrible movie and casual horror movie fans may feel like it is more than enough, but seasoned vets and big fans of the franchise like myself will be left wanting more. Either way, if you enjoyed the earlier films it is worth checking out to form your own opinion.

Another entry in the franchise considered to be a spin-off titled Thread: An Insidious Tale, is said to be in development and will star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani. With James Wan still involved, I am hopeful that the Insidious franchise still has some gas left in the tank.