After a genuinely scary first offering in James Wan‘s Insidious (2010), the Leigh Whannell-created series has failed to make good on any of the unnerving potential with its sequels (and prequels) going forward. As each subsequent film seems to earn less and less favourable word from critics and audiences, there’s an almost immediate sense of trepidation in entering Insidious: The Red Door, the fifth (and hopefully final) instalment in this alarmingly resilient horror franchise.
Seeing as how looking back before the events of the first film failed to conjure much enthusiasm – both Insidious 3 (2015) and Insidious: The Last Key (2018) were prequels to the original – it only makes sense that The Red Door serves as a definitive sequel to 2013’s Chapter 2. Whilst this series was never one we were clamouring another entry for, it’s the most logical step.
With the focus once again laying on the cursed Lambert family – fronted by Josh (Patrick Wilson, also serving as director in his feature debut) and Renai (Rose Byrne) – the Scott Teems-penned script has a strong-enough foundation built in to its hopeful scares. When we last left Josh and his eldest son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), they had barely survived the terror of “The Further”, a dark underworld that their respective ability of astral projecting led them to. That was almost a decade ago, and it would seem since that time has passed Josh and Dalton haven’t had any terrifying encounters, but the sense of dread still lingers and has subsequently strained their relationship; we learn that a medium convinced the two to suppress any and all memory of their time in the alternate dimension.
Additionally, Josh has lost his mother, and his marriage to Renai has since dissolved, leaving him a little broken and unsure how to navigate his relationships moving forward. He suggests to the college-bound Dalton (who Simpkins plays frustratingly one-note across the film’s taxing 107 minutes) that he drive him to campus in the hopes of re-bonding along the way, but the sullen teen isn’t having any part of it. Whilst it’s understandable that Dalton, as a character, wouldn’t feel a certain warmth towards Josh, it doesn’t serve the film any good having their dynamic void of any ebb and flow, and when Dalton “perks up” as he interacts with wrongly-assigned roommate Chris (Sinclair Daniel, failing at being the film’s comedic relief), it doesn’t feel like it’s a personality shift that’s earned or even organic; outside of the intentionally bizarre additions of Whannell and Angus Sampson as the series’ paranormal investigators, the Insidious films have never been ones to operate on a humorous level (at least not intentionally so), so Chris being placed among the fray to make ill-timed quips feels remarkably off brand.
It’s not necessarily a negative that Wilson would want to change the formula of these films – he’s even stated that he didn’t want this sequel to rely on the same-old jump scares of its predecessors – but the material he’s working with doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Ironically, those “same-old jump scares” are ultimately what The Red Door submits to, and by the time both Josh and Dalton have reignited their memories of The Further, we have entirely checked out and lost any sense of care as to what fate awaits them; the titular Red Door being the ultimate portal to this other world.
For a film that’s had plenty of time to simmer, it’s even more disappointing that Wilson is unable to move beyond the very tropes he apparently wanted to avoid. In making this more a film about Dalton, he’s also relegated to a supporting role (and Byrne even less-so, a shame when she’s the only one in the film turning in solid work), and whilst Simpkins showed promise under the direction of Wan, here he’s such a bore of a performer, which doesn’t remotely help us as an audience to feel invested in his plight. Open the door, don’t open the door…we fail to care and wish the other dimensional demon would put us all out of our misery.
With the series apparently earning yet another lifeline in the form of Thread: An Insidious Tale – an apparent spin-off from the main storyline that is set to star Kumail Nanjiani and Mandy Moore – it would seem the narrative isn’t quite as vanquished as it should be, but unless that film truly abides by the notion that empty jump scares don’t equal legitimate horror, this series should have its door closed and deadbolted shut on it.
ONE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Insidious: The Red Door is now screening in Australian theatres.
