In 2010 the Insidious franchise was born with the first installment. In 2013, the second movie in the franchise came out. Both films focus on the Lambert family, who is haunted by demons from an astral plane called “the Further.” 2015 and 2018 brought two prequels in the series. July of 2023 brought us Insidious: The Red Door, which brought us back to the Lamberts’ lives and how the events of the first two films have affected them in the present day.
Warning – Spoilers ahead for the franchise and slight spoilers for Insidious: The Red Door.
The film brings back original cast members Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Ty Simpkins as Josh, Renai, and Dalton Lambert. After the events of the first two movies, the father and son do not recall the events that occurred while battling the demon from the further. Josh and Renai are split up, and Dalton’s relationship with his father is shaky. Needless to say that their past is affecting them, even if they can’t remember why.
Dalton is now grown up and off to college. He is a talented art student in a great program and has made friends with his roommate. Though, slowly, his past catches up to him and his father as he rediscovers his ability to astral project. Josh Lambert is struggling with memory issues and brain fog, not feeling himself ever since the year of Dalton’s coma when they first encountered the evil spirits of the astral plane.
The movie reveals exactly why Dalton and his father are at odds and brings resolution to the events that led there. They end the film on good terms, with Dalton realizing just how heroic his father is and how much he would do to protect him.
Patrick Wilson is an icon in the horror movie universe. For Insidious: The Red Door, Wilson picked up the director’s cap and made his directorial debut for the film. James Wan, who directed Insidious and Insidious: Chapter Two, acted as producer on Red Door. Now that we are caught up on the franchise let’s take a look at the movie and how well it fits with the other movies in the series.
I thought the movie was a great way to wrap up the movie franchise. It gave its’ characters closure to an awful time in their lives. I found myself angry at Renai for leaving Josh because only she knew the reasons why her husband and son were struggling so much. Though, I cannot even imagine knowing something so immense and not being able to tell the people you love most for fear of it coming back.
There were some moments that I was afraid that it would go cliche, like when Josh gets a brain scan to try to sort out why he is feeling how he does. My fear was that they would do the “you have a brain tumor” thing or “there are these spots on your brain” avenue. But it ended up that Josh had a clear brain scan, and the doctor he saw brought up seeing a therapist for his mental health. It was a refreshing spin on the brain health story.
The movie did a great job at being scary ( I got jump-scared several times) and bringing in new information without distracting me from the current situation. There were cameos from Elise, Spec, and Tucker, who were in the first and second movies. I won’t reveal how, but it was an excellent little addition to Red Door and a good callback to the previous films. The addition of Sinclair Daniels and Chris Winslow was a fun way to add a bit of comedy to a tense situation. I enjoyed her character and her friendship with Dalton.
There is some negative feedback floating around the internet about this movie. I can understand that the movie may seem “boring,” according to some viewers. However, when you think about it, we have already seen what the further is home to and the effect it can have in reality. There wasn’t much else to really show for that, so the scares had to be carefully chosen and implemented.
In the end, Insidious: The Red Door was about a father and son regaining their memories and conquering the thing that had tormented them and destroyed their lives for many years. This movie was about a family reconciling and working through a lot of baggage to get back to a peaceful place. As a viewer, you want them to succeed, and you want them to be okay. With the ending, I believe that we got that.
However, knowing that this is a movie in the horror franchise, is it ever really over? I think that despite the ending if in the future someone wanted to tell their story again, from the perspective of Dalton as a father, they could. I don’t believe it will happen because this movie was meant to be the end of the Lamberts’ story. Wilson did a great job at giving us a scary movie with a lot of heart. You can tell that he cares about this franchise and the story of his character and his family.
Have you seen Insidious: The Red Door? Are you going to see it? Let us know what you think! Happy watching, nerds!
