The “Insidious” franchise has often left its fans with mixed feelings. The first two focused on the Lambert family’s struggles with The Further, a dimension where tortured spirits of the deceased lingered.
Since only family patriarch Josh (Patrick Wilson) and his young son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) had the ability to astral project into that world, these films were both scary as well as a breath of fresh air.
The same could not be said however, for the mediocre third and fourth films which were prequels that focused on the psychic-slash-medium, Elise Rainier, a brilliant Lin Shaye, who carried the films.
Now, with this fifth movie being a direct sequel to “Insidious 2”, it brings the focus back to Josh and Dalton.
It is 10 years later however, and both have been hypnotised to forget their traumatic experiences in The Further. Josh has become a distant father and is now separated from his wife Renai (Rose Byrne).
The movie opens with Dalton heading off to college. However, his repressed memories are awakened when his arts professor encourages her students to “sink further” into their subconscious for a project.
As a result, Dalton finds himself drawing a red door from the deep corners of his memories, not knowing it is the gateway for The Further’s spirits to enter this world.
From then on, the creep factor is dialled all the way up, from out-of-focus silhouettes in the window to horrifying entities crawling up to Josh during an MRI scan.
Now, father and son are forced to work together to face their past if they want to see a future.
In his directorial debut, Wilson does a good job balancing family melodrama and supernatural elements, his experience starring in multiple horror films (including “The Conjuring” universe) contributing to his vision, no doubt.
His character Josh is no longer the fierce protective father he was in previous entries, the result of the memory wipe.
His time on screen is not wasted as the audience can feel his frustrations over his inability to remember events or his determination to find out the truth behind his ghostly encounters, portraying both vulnerability and strength at the drop of a hat.
Simpkins meanwhile transitions from child actor to young adult quite well. His portrayal of Dalton as a rebellious, angsty teen was multi-dimensional as he also showed unspoken pain behind his seemingly tough persona, a parallel to his onscreen father who is also dealing with his past.
For a horror movie like this, some levity is needed in the form of light humour, and Dalton’s roommate Chris (Sinclair Daniel) provides just that.
She serves as the grounded character who’s willing to help and protect her new friend with minimal questions, and she doesn’t overstay her welcome so the audience can enjoy the liveliness she brings.
It is a pity however that Byrne is relegated to a minor role with only a handful of scenes. With her being the only one who remembers the events of “Insidious 1” and “2”, you’d think she would have played a major role here.
As for the scares, the movie sets them up well, and even when it has to use a jump scare, it’s done correctly with long takes and a creepy undertone that’s the franchise’s signature.
One particularly good scene is when Dalton is drawing the aforementioned red door in class and a demon’s hand suddenly grabs him, with Josh sensing it and jolting awake in his bed at the same time.
Overall, “Insidious 5” is an enjoyable horror movie with heart, bringing the franchise back on track with some genuinely good scares.
While this may not be the last the audience sees of The Further, with a spinoff already in the works, it does serve as a nice goodbye to the Lambert family.
As of press time, ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.