Insidious: The Red Door Movie Review

Fellow Australians James Wan and Leigh Whannell have become two of the biggest heavy hitters in all of Horror. They burst onto the scene with their 2004 low-budget, torture flick, Saw, which now has 9 sequels, yes you read correctly, 9! Both of these talented filmmakers have gone on to make some of the best films in the genre in recent years, but collaboratively, their other unique franchise starter, Insidious stands out as one of the more unique and legitimately terrifying horror films in their combined filmography’s. Whilst not spawning 9 sequels, the Insidious franchise has seen its own success, with 4 sequels and a total franchise gross of over $500 million. The franchise has seen a variety of directors with 2 instalments helmed by James Wan (1 and Chapter 2), 1 by Leigh Whannell (Chapter 3), 1 by Adam Robitel (The Last Key) and now 1 by series star, Patrick Wilson, Insidious: The Red Door. 

Insidious: The Red Door picks up after the events of chapter 2, 10 years ago. The Lamberts have been through the ringer since the first film, with Josh (played by Patrick Wilson) now divorced from wife Renai (played by Rose Byrne) and estrange from his son Dalton (played by Ty Simpkins). In an attempt to reconnect with his son, Josh takes Dalton on a trip to university, however, as Dalton arrives and is pressed by his teacher to explore his fears, he begins to relive moments from his past and is once again haunted by the red door that he was taken through in the further over 10 years ago. The family must come together to stop the evil and bury the past once and for all.

As you all know by now, I am a huge horror fan. The Insidious franchise ranks among my favourites of the modern era of horror. The reason I connect with the franchise is due to the creativity behind the filmmaking, but also the depths of the story. The franchise has never been overly reliant on jump scares and traditional scare tactics, whilst these are still present throughout the franchise, it's always been about the characters, their relationships and the incredible visuals that are associated with the further.

Insidious: The Red Door continues the trend, providing yet another endearing and well-crafted horror film with a strong directorial debut from series actor Patrick Wilson. Wilson has worked with Wan now on 6 films, (Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, Aquaman and Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom coming later this year) and has clearly taken on board the creative strengths of Wan’s direction. Wan has become a modern master at using the camera. He places the camera in unique places, moving it around like it’s a character in the film, which obviously comes from his independent film sensibilities. Wilson also does this here, keeping the visual style of the franchise intact whilst also providing new and inventive techniques to elevate the story and provide something a little different for the audience as well.

The film serves as a final instalment for the Dalton family’s saga, but also provided a springboard for future instalments, and as Insidious: The red Door grossed nearly $200 million worldwide, its safe to say this isn’t the last time we will be venturing into the further. I hope that as the franchise moves forward, we continue to get a strong emotional story, mixed with these inventive and unique visuals as well, to help continue to differentiate the franchise from anything else in the horror movie genre.

Insidious: The Red Door has hit shelves just in time for the spooky Halloween season. Make sure you secure your copy today as you won’t want to miss this one. For all things horror, shop Sanity’s wide range of merchandise, films and television series, games, books and much, MUCH more!

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Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here