Insidious: The Red Door Review

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 47 minutes, Director – Patrick Wilson

After moving to college Dalton Lambert (Ty Simpkins) finds himself being haunted by the demons of The Further while his distant father (Patrick Wilson) tries to find an explanation as to why his mind has clouded up over recent years.

The Insidious franchise has been a fluctuating horror over the last 13 years. For the most part it’s had its moments of amusement and a couple of thrills, and certainly appears to have found a supportive fanbase. It’s this fanbase which the fifth instalment, The Red Door, plays towards as the distanced Lambert family returns to once again be haunted by the demons of The Further. However, much of the goings on are unfamiliar to disconnected father and son Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Dalton (Ty Simpkins) who were hypnotised to forget about the hauntings of nine years ago.

Emotionally and geographically distanced, with Dalton having gone off to college to study art, the pair are unprepared for the various horrors which lurk in the darkness around them. While there’s a lot of narrative build-up largely focusing on the younger of the pair as he settles into college, trying to decipher what his strange, almost demonic, artistic creations are saying about him, it must be said that the early ghostly encounters do provide some solid jump-scares. Yes, one or two may have a bit too lengthy a build-up, but it doesn’t stop them from causing you to leave your seat for a brief moment.

For much of the film we focus on Dalton, perhaps where the more interesting elements of the somewhat bland narrative are. It’s certainly a film more about his discoveries and treading in his father’s footsteps more than anything else. As things progress, and Josh becomes more a part of the piece with his own discoveries about his forgotten past, there’s a feeling that The Red Door is trying to be some form of Doctor Sleep within the Insidious universe – although without reaching those heights. It’s when the pair begin to be put in focus together that things pick up more, and there’s indeed more directness to the way in which things progress.

What’s come beforehand has wavered with some effective jump-scares amongst the bland plotting, however things manage to gradually gain your interest – although perhaps not your involvement – as the developments pan out. In a number of ways an encapsulation of the franchise up until this point. This may also be the case simply as someone who isn’t exactly a fan of the franchise. There’s certainly a lot here for more invested viewers in this universe to get a kick out of, with plenty of throwbacks and references it almost seems as if this is more for the fans than anyone else who may be coming to this fifth instalment as a more casual viewer, or maybe even new.

While starting out with an uninvolving narrative there are some good jump-scares within Insidious: The Red Door to help things move along. Certainly more for the fans with plenty of details and references to the rest of the franchise, for more casual viewers it’s a decent enough, if uncertain horror.

★★★