‘Insidious: The Red Door’ Proves This Franchise Is Best Laid To Rest

Alci Rengifo

Surely Patrick Wilson chose “Insidious: The Red Door” with some level of genuine enthusiasm considering this is the actor’s directorial debut. It is also the latest chapter in one of those horror franchises that refuses to die, marking Wilson’s own return after an eight-year absence. He of course also starred in the original 2010 “Insidious,” directed by Jams Wan. The Wan movie quickly gained some cult status, while the rest of the franchise obsessed itself with prequels, more prequels and one direct sequel in 2015’s “Insidious: Chapter 2.” Luckily, the narrative road map is not confusing, particularly since it’s a typical scream fest with boo moments the horror fans might yawn at. To his credit, Wilson proves he can indeed direct, finding some moments with inventive structure before letting the story dissipate.

The plot picks up nine years after the events of “Chapter 2.” Josh Lambert (Wilson), once a family man battling dark forces harassing his family, is now divorced from Renai (Rose Byrne), who didn’t like the idea of being married to a constant demon possession case. Their son turned ghost satellite, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), is about to go to college to study art. He’s a moody artist type who paints cryptic, gothic visions. He also does not get along with Josh. We recap early on that their memories of the events from the last two movies, involving entering the demonic the Further, were erased from their memories during a hypnosis session. Once on campus, Dalton makes friends with scrappy Chris (Sinclair Daniel), a Math major.  But then those pesky entities from the Further begin appearing in Dalton’s dorm, tormenting him with horrifying visions and apparitions. This sounds like a perfect way to bring Josh back into Dalton’s life and discover together the truth about their shared past. 

Doing the math to chart “Insidious” is itself like after school homework. This is a sequel to the second movie, but is the fifth in terms of the franchise’s timeline. All the order aside, the James Wan films were silliness dressed in rich atmosphere. A 2018 prequel, “Insidious: The Last Key,” also thrived on strong visuals and B-movie fun. Wilson follows the franchise’s established visual patterns, including drained colors and doors that tend to glow red. He’s good with a few decent jump scares that avoid getting too wildly graphic, like eerie apparitions in the distance outside a window or a blurry figure slowly approaching from behind a car’s windshield. But most of the movie is about old faces with dark lipstick rushing at you in uncomfortable places (like a CT scan machine). There’s plenty of vomit too in “The Red Door,” with one or two funny jabs at frat culture. When a character is called Nick the Dick (Peter Dager), his room must certainly be a demon magnet. We also get some horror movie silliness with Professor Armagan (Hiam Abbass), a pompously intense art professor who makes everyone tear apart their pitched artwork on the first day of class. She gives a wholly inaccurate lecture on Goya, but we accept it since it all links to the later scares, despite the professor never appearing for the rest of the plot.

Once Wilson settles on a pattern of slamming doors and puking ghouls, “The Red Door” doesn’t add anything more to what you have already seen in the other “Insidious” movies. Early on, he does find some stronger dramatic territory with the relationship between Dalton and Josh. A scene where Josh notices Dalton has not included him in the family portraits he has drawn and hung in his dorm is genuinely moving. And while Renai is briefly present, the screenplay by Scott Teems and Leigh Whannell doesn’t go for cornball, “let’s bring them back together” tricks. The subtext is also strewn with very light messages of overcoming trauma and the roots of fear, which were better explored in “Chapter 2.” Here it’s an excuse for composer Joseph Bishara to constantly screech those violins. We don’t even get much of a good look at what appears to be the main demon running around the Further, poking its slender fingers through doors and windows and having a habit of playing eerie oldies on a record player. Supposedly this is the last entry. Time will tell.  Aside from a few winks at the previous movies and Wilson proving he should aim for original material next time, “The Red Door” has few reasons to stay open.

“Insidious: The Red Door” releases July 7 in theaters nationwide.