KV: While it might be an effective way for some to quit smoking, we learn in Insidious: The Red Door that hypnosis is perhaps not the best way to kick that pesky astral projection habit. The fifth in Jason Blum and James Wan’s Insidious series, this film heralds the return of the Lambert family to the franchise, and serves as Patrick Wilson’s directorial debut. Nine years after the events of the first two movies, we find the Lamberts older and emotionally worse for the wear after the divorce of Josh (Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne), and the death of Josh’s mother, Lorraine. More than previous instalments, Insidious: The Red Door is interested in the human relationships at the heart of the Insidi-verse, arguably at the expense of much real development of the horror elements of the narrative. What results is a fairly touching, sometimes funny, often scary and ultimately pretty decent resolution to the Lamberts’ story. Zoe, could you give us a quick rundown of the plot?

ZA: Absolutely. Opening at Josh’s mother’s funeral, the fraught family dynamics are front and centre, primarily between Josh and Dalton (Ty Simpkins), his eldest son. For those who need the catch up, Josh and Dalton are the two astral projectors of the family who had their memories of how to enter The Further and the events of Insidious chapters 1 & 2 suppressed from their consciousnesses (I certainly wish I had the memories of Insidious chapters 3 & 4 wiped from my mind). Upon the suggestion of Renai, Josh offers to drive Dalton to college in an attempt to heal the painfully apparent tension and distance between them. Dalton reluctantly agrees, however, his hesitancy was very much justified. The trip culminates in an explosive argument, where Dalton accuses his family of hiding things about their past and Josh of being the absentee father his father was to him. Josh in turn attempts to blame his behaviour on an increasing mental fog that he will get to the bottom of. 

As the father and son part ways, they both embark on their own attempts to understand what is happening to them as The Further increasingly encroaches on their waking lives. For Dalton, this happens through his art classes, where the professor gets them to rip up their most prized art, followed up with some loose hypnosis (not good, folks). In this semi hypnotised/semi astral projecting state, Dalton creates an image of The Red Door – of the movie title fame – colouring it with his own blood. He’s compelled to continue working on it throughout the movie. 

Josh goes down the medical route, which lends itself to a very spooky and tense sequence in an MRI machine. 

Through their separate interrogations into their past and their suppressed abilities they encounter some familiar spectral faces and have to confront the traumas of their pasts. 

I think that about covers the setup. Katie, what are your thoughts? 

KV: I had a pretty good time watching this film. While it isn’t earth-shatteringly original, it does have a bunch of genuinely and satisfyingly yelp-inducing moments. The relationship between Dalton and his new college friend, Chris (Sinclair Daniel), is sweet, and she provides some levity that is at times genuinely funny. (I feel like a lot of horrors try and fail to achieve this admittedly modest goal.)

One complaint I have, though, is that as the Red Door begins to creak open, allowing various ghoulish entities back into Dalton’s and Josh’s lives, the rules of the game start crumbling around the edges. Sometimes slipping into The Further affects only Dalton or Josh. Sometimes, when Dalton falls unconscious, the real world and The Further seem to bleed together for anyone in the surrounding dorm rooms. This isn’t a huge problem, and doesn’t get in the way of some very effective scares, but I personally found it distracting throughout that it wasn’t really clear what the entities in The Further were capable of doing in the real world.

Also, I will say I feel bad for the Lambert daughter. In the first few films she just served as a convenient excuse for some spooky baby monitor scenes, and she doesn’t get a look-in beyond the first scene in this one, while the rest of the family and their relationships are centred heavily. Please do not emotionally neglect your daughters and/or less haunted children, they deserve love as well!

ZA: I believe her name is Carli? The final in the line up of terrible/terribly spelt names in that family (apologies to any Renais, Daltons or Fosters out there). 

I agree, there is certainly a lot to enjoy, some creepy spooks (albeit a deficit in goops, a shortcoming of the Insidious franchise in general) and a compelling emotional heart: men having feelings about dads. I think the film benefits from re-centering the story back to the Lamberts and finding the comedy beats, which had been clunky in previous films. This is the first film in the franchise not to be written by Leigh Whannel – don’t fret Insidious purists, Specs and Tucker do make a (mercifully) brief cameo. Perhaps having an outside creative input from screenwriter Scott Teems paired with Wilson’s directorial debut allowed for a renewed focus on the things that were good about the first two films rather than a convoluted expansion of the universe with medium Elise at the helm of the narrative. 

Insidious: The Red Door delivers what you want out of an Insidious movie: some very enjoyable performances, notably Wilson giving a very moving “sad dad” performance, and an emotional depth unreached in the previous films. A spooky and satisfying conclusion to the Lamberts’ involvement in the Insidi-verse (unless of course there is more content to be flogged). 

 

Insidious: The Red Door is currently playing in cinemas.