Insidious: The Red Door Review

Introduction (Warning Contains Spoilers)

With Insidious: Out of the Further arriving this Friday, we decided to revisit the franchise. We are reviewing the previous films in chronological order.

Since two entries are prequels, our journey began with Insidious: Chapter 3. We then watched Insidious: The Last Key.

After that, we returned to Insidious from 2010 and Insidious: Chapter 2. Now, it is finally time to revisit Insidious: The Red Door.

Released in 2023, The Red Door is the fifth instalment in the supernatural horror franchise. It also serves as a sequel to Insidious: Chapter 2.

The film brings Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) and his son Dalton back into the spotlight. Patrick Wilson also steps behind the camera for his directorial debut.

James Wan serves as a producer, while Patrick Wilson is back as Josh Lambert. Ty Simpkins plays the grown-up Dalton Lambert, reprising his role from Insidious 2010 and Insidious chapter 2.

The movie occurs nine years after Chapter 2. Josh takes Dalton to college, as he embarks on a new phase of his life.

Yet, the fresh phase turns out to be much more sinister. They begin to remember the things associated with The Further.

Josh and Dalton have spent years suppressing their supernatural experiences. Unfortunately, those memories were never truly gone.

The ominous red door comes into play once again for Josh and Dalton. Father and son need to face their nightmares from the past.

The idea itself seems very promising. Sadly enough, the execution of the idea turned out to be a little bit less successful.

After revisiting the entire franchise, The Red Door is unfortunately my weakest entry so far.

A Different Kind of Insidious

One of the greatest differences is the importance placed upon drama. In The Red Door, much of the time is spent on looking into the family history and trauma.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Horror movies are very powerful when they incorporate the terror of something supernatural through personal fear.

What does become difficult is achieving the proper balance between the two. In my opinion, The Red Door does not do this successfully.

In the previous movies, the Lambert family was put right in the middle of the supernatural turmoil. Their house had become a battleground for an unknown entity.

Now, the plot shifts to the college years of Dalton. Such a turn of events is quite understandable character-wise.

Dalton is older and therefore wants to be more independent from his parents. Nevertheless, I found the college environment rather distracting.

The focus on college life sometimes feels like it belongs in another film. I became increasingly interested in Josh’s story instead.

That was frustrating because Josh remains one of the franchise’s strongest characters. Patrick Wilson has always brought something compelling to the role.

The previous two movies have greatly profited from the strong bond between the Lambert family. Josh, Renai, and Dalton seemed like a real family under threat.

This aspect does not exist anymore. Renai is pushed aside, and Dalton’s surroundings are highlighted very much.

The movie tries to look at the identity of Dalton and his connection with his father. The supernatural plot seems to be somewhat secondary.

That is a strange choice for an Insidious film. Especially one intended to conclude the Lambert family’s story.

The Amnesia Problem

The memory loss concept is yet another intriguing idea that introduces challenges to the plot. Josh and Dalton have lost their memory of The Further experience.

This makes it possible for the characters to face their past in a new way. However, the viewers have not forgotten the previous occurrences.

They are well-informed about The Further and the concept of astral projection. They know the dangers the characters faced before.

As a result, most of the movie consists of rediscovery of things that the viewers already know. This kills the mystery of the whole plot.

Instead of being curious about what is going on, the audience waits for the characters to finally discover everything. This makes the film seem unnecessary slow.

Although the idea itself was good, the script did not do justice to it. The plot spends too much time on developing the concept.

It becomes especially apparent in the first two acts of the movie. The plot takes its time getting Josh and Dalton back into the supernatural fight.

It ends up being a movie that seems like it’s primarily a family drama before anything else. Only after this, the elements of horror come into play.

It’s no denying that there are some fascinating underlying themes here. They include the idea of repressed memories, generational trauma, and the repercussions of avoiding one’s experiences.

This works quite nicely for the overall franchise. “The Further” is easy enough to represent the concepts we all try to push aside.

What’s too bad is how the themes aren’t always woven seamlessly into the story. At times, the symbolism seems obvious rather than subtle.

Patrick Wilson’s Directorial Debut

Patrick Wilson stepping in as the director of this film is one of the more intriguing aspects of this film. It marks his directorial debut of a feature film.

Patrick Wilson definitely knows what visuals make for the world of the series. He knows how to build up suspense through darkness and negative space.

Additionally, he also knows how the audience will react at certain moments in a horror film. There are several scenes which show that he can certainly direct.

One example of a very well-made scene is the MRI scan. It builds up immediately due to the confined space and later supernatural elements take charge.

Wilson also knows how to use familiar franchise imagery. He doesn’t completely abandon the style established by James Wan.

Rather, he tries to hold on to that identity while creating something more emotionally rooted. This approach has its pros and cons.

The movie still remains unmistakably Insidious. However, Wilson himself fails to establish a unique identity in terms of style.

This may be understandable, of course, as this is Wilson’s first time being a director. It was certainly difficult for him to take up a movie with such an established visual style.

It is hard not to compare the two directors at the same time. Wan’s original film was incredibly self-confident in terms of the tension created and compositions used.

Wilson is competent enough, but he cannot match Wan’s sense of visual invention. He proves he is capable of directing an Insidious movie.

But he does not show what kind of horror movie directed by Patrick Wilson can look like.

And I even dare say that Wilson’s biggest strength lies in directing the emotional part of the movie. His understanding of Josh adds much-needed authenticity to the character.

It is also nice to see how respectful he is towards the history of the franchise. But there could have been more ambition in his debut.

Cinematography by Autumn Eakin

The cinematography of Autumn Eakin is one of the better technical aspects of the film. The photography keeps the dark tone in line with expectations for the franchise.

Shadows, muted colors, and negative space all figure prominently into the film. This helps generate a feeling of uneasiness even when things are somewhat normal.

The Further gets its own visual style as well. Fog, darkness, and strange lighting make it stand out from the real world.

Autumn Eakin plays to the strength of Wilson’s horror movie formula well. They both know that sometimes the most terrifying thing is an empty space.

Lighting has been used effectively to convey danger as well. Red light is an increasingly significant visual aspect of the entire film.

Nevertheless, the cinematographic style has not totally altered the look of the franchise. Instead, it still strongly relies on previous conventions.

It is good that it does so; yet it constrains the visual identity of the film. Visual aspects fail to become as striking as some elements of the original film.

Still, Eakin succeeds in creating an appropriate atmosphere for the movie.

The Visual Effects

The visual effects are fine but do not constitute a huge leap forward. The series has never been built on elaborate digital effects.

Rather, in The Red Door, they serve to enhance The Further, which allows the creation of supernatural settings and the appearance of its frightening characters.

This time The Further looks bigger and more complex. But more of the latter also means another problem.

The previous movies had a certain advantage due to their mysteriousness. The Further looked like an enigmatic and terrifying dimension.

At this point, viewers know the rules and the way it looks. The more the franchise unveils, the more the mystery fades away.

This is something a fifth movie cannot escape from. Viewers have the expectation that the mythology would grow.

However, the new material does not seem all that innovative. There are ghosts viewers recognize and imagery they’ve already seen before along with some supernatural notions that they know well.

The visual effects appear good enough, although they do not give the unforgettable images anymore like the first one did.

The Red-Faced Demon looks as striking as ever. But his presence does not shock anymore.

The movie, therefore, achieves its effect using functional rather than revolutionary visual effects. The visual effects serve the plot without raising it to a new level.

The Performances

The acting would have to be one aspect where I believe that the movie does deserve some praise. It often outperforms what the writing allows.

Patrick Wilson still stands out as Josh Lambert. He portrays a person trying to cope with exhaustion, disorientation and repressed memories.

No one knows Josh’s background like Wilson. This translates into his more subdued moments.

The MRI scene once again shows why he excels. Wilson makes Josh’s fear believable in a growingly confined space.

Ty Simpkins is worth giving credit for his return as Dalton. The character was previously played by him as a child in the original movies.

Watching the development of the character in Simpkins makes for an organic sense of continuity. Dalton now comes across as a traumatized boy instead of a scared kid.

Simpkins manages to portray Dalton’s isolation quite convincingly. He is also successful at conveying the frustration of the character towards Josh.

However, the script is often responsible for hampering the performances of both the actors. They continuously have to act as confused characters who do not know their own background.

That creates several scenes built around confusion and delayed discovery. Eventually, even strong performances cannot completely overcome that repetition.

Sinclair Daniel brings a much needed dose of energy to the film as Chris. It adds humor and a much needed dose of skepticism to Dalton’s odd experiences.

I liked her presence in the film more than I thought I would. She makes the college story a little more engaging and ensures that every moment isn’t bleak.

Rose Byrne, however, is woefully underused. Renai played an important role in the first two movies.

In this movie, she gets significantly less screen time. This is unfortunate since Byrne continues to be a gifted actor.

The absence of a stronger Josh and Renai dynamic is noticeable. Their relationship helped ground the original supernatural story.

There is also a certain comforting aspect of having some familiar faces back in the film. Lin Shaye plays her character Elise Rainier once again, bringing her characteristic warmth and authority to the role.

Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson reprise their roles of Specs and Tucker respectively. Their presence in the movie is only briefly shown, but their chemistry is still as good as ever.

These three actors have become very closely tied to the Insidious universe. It’s good to see them reunited again, serving as reminders of previous entries into the franchise.

That being said, I wished these actors had a little bit more to do. Their appearances seem to be more of a nod to past films rather than an integral part of the plot.

The appearance of Elise, and by extension Lin Shaye herself, is very important for the film. This actress has played a very important role throughout the whole franchise, adding her familiar face to The Red Door.

The participation of Leigh Whannell has a certain extra importance too. He is the creator of the franchise and the writer of The Red Door. He plays his character of Specs again here.

While their return doesn’t add anything important to the plot, it certainly makes you feel like you’ve returned to an established world once again.

What Works

There are still several things I enjoyed about The Red Door. Patrick Wilson remains compelling as Josh.

The emotional connection between Josh and Dalton seems to have a real potential as well. Their trauma serves as the basis for the most dramatic scenes of the film.

It is also nice that there are some references to the previous films which prove that this film is supposed to be a part of the series.

As a result, some elements become emotionally valuable since they serve as a reminder of the experience of the Lambert family.

Besides, there are also a few good horror scenes in the film. In particular, the MRI scene can be highlighted as the most interesting one.

At times, the film is able to create tension using silence and precise framing. It means that Wilson knows the mechanics of tension well.

The cinematography by Autumn Eakin deserves to be mentioned as well. It adds a dark atmosphere to the film.

The Further is still creepy in its own way. The link between the reality and the supernatural world is rather effective.

Finally, it should be noted that the performance in the film has some emotional depth. The father-son conflict becomes believable.

What Does Not Work

Unfortunately, the problems are more significant for me. The biggest issue remains the screenplay.

It moves too slowly to be a good horror movie. It takes a lot of time until the supernatural part of the story becomes the most important one.

The part about the college life is also very weak for me. I get why it was necessary for Dalton to grow up.

Still, I didn’t find it interesting at all. It prevented me from paying attention to the characters and mythology that I liked.

This weakens a number of revelations in the movie. We are waiting for information instead of uncovering it together with the main characters.

It also does not present enough fresh supernatural elements. There are plenty of options how to develop The Further, yet very little of them feels original.

The scares are just as uneven. Some scenes are great, while others mostly depend on startling the viewer with sounds and conventional jump scares.

In earlier movies, fear was usually created via anticipation. In The Red Door, surprise becomes more important at times.

This is important. Making someone jump does not always mean making them scared.

The last part of the movie is yet another wasted chance. Red door was thoroughly developed all along the way.

Thus, the final confrontation should be really huge. On the contrary, it turns out to be surprisingly short.

It was supposed to be intense and emotionally gratifying. The ending had to feel like the crowning point in the characters’ long journey.

On the contrary, the resolution appears quite quick. It was disappointing after everything that was said about the franchise.

Final Verdict

After revisiting the franchise in chronological order, Insidious: The Red Door is unfortunately my least favourite entry.

However it’s not a disaster, there is quite a lot of good things about it.

For example, Patrick Wilson gives a good performance, and he does a great job as a director. Ty Simpkins successfully makes the transition from Dalton to an adult.

Sinclair Daniel adds some nice energy, while Autumn Eakin’s cinematography is really atmospheric.

Additionally, there are several successful horror scenes which prove the popularity of this franchise once again.

Regrettably, these good things are not able to make up for the flaws in the storyline. This story has poor pacing, and college was not the right setting for it.

The problem with memory loss becomes really annoying too. The audience knows all the mythology already, but the characters discover it over and over again.

What is important, I wanted more Josh. Patrick Wilson remains one of the strongest sides of this franchise.

This film should have focused on his journey and development more. He and Dalton’s relationship could be the emotional center of the movie.

In addition, the story focuses on the coming-of-age plot which isn’t necessary at all.

The horror is also less creative than in previous instalments. The Further is still interesting visually, but its mystery faded after several movies.

The final showdown scene could be the highlight of the movie. Regrettably, it was poorly done and did not provide me with an expected emotional climax.

Insidious: The Red Door, therefore, is a really disappointing chapter in this series. It has several good performances, nice cinematography, and some scary scenes.

It is still better than any movie outside the franchise, but it is worse than the Lambert films which came before it.

The elements are definitely there, but the story does not connect them well enough.

Patrick Wilson definitely deserves praise for being willing to direct this film despite its difficulties. Regrettably, his directorial debut is flawed because of the poor screenplay.