Patrick Wilson’s ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ is inspired, charming, yet lackluster
After 10 years and two prequel movies in between, the Lambert family drama continues in ‘Insidious: The Red Door.’ The latest and arguably the last in the horror saga takes place a decade later following the events of ‘Insidious: Chapter 2,’ spearheaded by Patrick Wilson in his directorial debut.
Traumatized and reeling from an attack by the vengeful spirit of Parker Crane, father and son Josh (Wilson) and Dalton Lambert (Ty Simpkins) decide to have their memories of the past year erased, blotting out the events of the first two films from their minds. ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ catches us up to speed, showing us the ramifications of a forcibly imposed amnesia, not only on Josh and Dalton’s respective psyches but on the very state of the Lamberts as well. A band-aid coming undone, this temporary fix proves to have done more harm than good, with forces beyond our comprehension returning with a vengeance, and their eyes set on prey who have no idea what’s coming their way.
More than a week since its local release, the film has managed to earn past $70 million worldwide while on a $16 million budget – a box office success. And yet despite this, the horror film series’ fifth installment has faced mixed reviews, sitting at a 39% critic score and a 70% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s a lot to like from Wilson’s addition to the now-horror classic, but with the good often comes the bad.
Spoilers ahead.
The Good
Family first. ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ is by all means a horror flick, but make no mistake, it’s bigger than that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very much scary (at least for me who had to cover my face in certain scenes), but it never felt like spooking the audience was the main goal – it even seemed secondary at times.
Instead, the film draws attention to the Lamberts, centered around the themes of ending generational trauma and confronting one’s past as a means to move forward. The menacing demons and tormented souls present were threats in their own right, however, the bigger battle lies within.
Throughout the film, Josh seemed to justify his decaying relationship with his family as a byproduct of his own experience with his father; going as far as to claim that his neglect was to a lesser degree than what he had endured. But through uncovering what had truly happened to his father – the sacrifice that he made – and through remembering what he had forgotten – he grew to embrace the past that had held onto him for so long.
It’s entirely possible that this disappointed several viewers who expected a higher intensity of horror from the title – hence the mixed reviews. But in all honesty, it’s refreshing to have viewed a horror sequel that had more to it than the scares and was not simply made to deepen the lore on a demonic figure (yes, I’m referring to you, ‘The Nun II’).
Unrelenting tension. I may simply be rusty when it comes to dealing with horror as I haven’t watched much of it lately, but ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ does an impressive job of delivering scares through tension.
Throughout various portions of the film, there would be extended cuts where you know a jump scare is bound to happen, but it doesn’t immediately. Instead keeping you in anticipation of the inevitable, I remember actually begging for the scare to happen. It’s a different kind of dread that I’ve just been introduced to; knowing what will happen, but passing the point when it should have occurred; leaving you now unable to predict at what point it will pounce on you, but knowing that it definitely will.
If you know, you know – the scene with Josh inside an MRI machine – the best in the film.
The Bad
A tad bit disconnected. The film’s primary protagonists are away from one another for the majority of the time as Dalton had just moved to college. And in the climax where Josh has to save his son from being possessed, he has to do so from the house of his ex-wife, with Dalton all the way inside his dorm room. The Further in this regard is used as a bridge to connect the two and allow them to interact with one another despite the distance between them.
Unfortunately, it isn’t as impactful as compared to having all the important characters present within the same space. The film somehow attempts to address this through the character of Chris (Sinclair Daniel) who is with Dalton during this time. However, even when she was in grave danger, I simply could not bring myself to care because she was just a side character introduced earlier.
What made the climaxes of the first two Insidious films work was that everyone who mattered was in the same place. Each encountered the same threat and each one of them could only hope that Josh and/or Dalton could somehow prevent their impending doom in a place they could not see nor comprehend. ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ is devoid of this despair.
YouTuber Chris Stuckmann adds that the very premise surrounding Josh and Dalton’s amnesia unnecessarily slows down the film. The viewers are forced to wait for the characters to be caught up to speed regarding very important details that we already know of. Such redundancy leads to valuable revelations not having the same impact it should have.
Subpar jumpscares. I know I just praised the film for delivering scares through extended tension, but for jumpscares, they quite didn’t hit the mark. They were uninspired, frankly not scary, and pale in comparison to what’s been done in the previous Insidious movies.
That’s it? This point ties back to my earlier statement concerning the film’s climax. Because of how lackluster it was, I did not think that the movie was that close to finishing. It needed one more encounter, this time with the whole gang together. And there were teases of that possibility, especially with Josh’s attempt to stay behind in The Further, and opening himself up to the prospect of being possessed. Unfortunately, it did not happen. And for what could be the final Insidious entry with the Lamberts at its center, having them essentially beat the bad guy in a work-from-home setting was rather unsatisfying.
The Verdict
‘Insidious: The Red Door’ is not the perfect conclusion to the classic horror film series. And yet despite its many flaws, it presents a heart-warming story surrounding family and forgiveness that lies hidden behind the facade of a traditional spine-chilling tale. It’s a rather satisfactory conclusion that offers much more than just simplistic horror.
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The film’s synopsis reads: “In ‘Insidious: The Red Door,’ the horror franchise’s original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family’s terrifying saga. 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.”
‘Insidious: The Red Door’ is directed by Patrick Wilson, and produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, James Wan, and Leigh Whannell. The screenplay is written by Scott Teems from a story by Leigh Whannell, based on characters created by Leigh Whannell. The film also stars Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, Andrew Astor, Sinclair Daniel, and Hiam Abbass.
Watch the trailer for ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ below.
