Insidious: The Red Door - Star/Director Patrick Wilson Shifts the Horror Franchise into Neutral

By Thom Ernst

Rating: C

Insidious: The Red Door is otherwise known to the literalists as Insidious 5.. So where are we in this one?

I don’t know; it has something to do with an alternate reality (called The Further), father and son relationships, and an obstinate demon with stomach issues.

Patrick Wilson and friend.

The Golem might be in it, but that’s just speculation; after a while all demons and goblins look the same.

Then again, much of what happens in Insidious: The Red Door, demands speculation. Not that it doesn’t make sense—it probably does to devoted fans of the franchise—but the sense it makes is stuck in a vortex of hallucinogenic night terrors and jump scares.

And without a refresher course in Insidious lore, audiences risk getting dropped in a dreamscape maze of gray-palled-skin demons with no way out.

After a reprieve since Insidious 3, when Dermot Mulroney and Stefanie Scott stepped in as leads, The Lamberts are back. But the reunion is far from merry.

Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) Lambert are separated. Their son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) is a moody noncommutative teen starting first year in university. Foster (Andrew Astor) Lambert’s youngest child, is also back, but his onscreen presence is limited to him taking phone calls from Dalton.

Josh, once the steadfast family man now damaged and easily unnerved, hopes to mend his relationship with Dalton. But his efforts prove fruitless. Still, it’s peculiar to witness a father weeping over something his son says to him that teenagers have been saying to their parents for years.  Yeah, I know, you had a traumatic experience with demons, but geez, get a grip.

I like the Insidious franchise enough, despite unaccountably confusing it with Sinister, another franchise that procures the services of a malevolent fiend. And though I don’t consider one franchise to be better than the other, I still detect a dip in my enthusiasm when realizing I’m not watching Sinister.

But minor adjustments to my expectations cue me up for the next chapter in the Insidious lore. I have my preference, but I’m malleable.

James Wan produces and Leigh Whannell co-writes with Scott Teems (Halloween Kills), but directorial reins have been given to Wilson. Is this directorship a promise fulfilled? Coming through on a favour? Acknowledging a contractual agreement?

Doesn’t matter why it happened, it happened, and the result is a mediocre horror film that occasionally surprises with unexpected dips into bizarre landscapes by way of Luis Buñuel.

Fault Wilson’s direction, but he does effectively build toward the jump-scares with masterful uneasiness, and he pulls off one enormously entertaining sequence involving an MRI. But take the movie outside of the realm of suspense and horror and it slips into stilted dialogue with unimaginative character types.

Chris Winslow (Sinclair Daniel) is the unconfirmed love interest who, by fault and error, ends up sharing a dorm room with Dalton. Despite Daniels’ dedicated performance, Winslow's character is misplaced with not much to do but broadcast her unflappable chutzpah and be a trusting sounding board for Dalton.

Winslow is quick to figure out who Dalton is, because Dalton, like every character in the film, is a type. Winslow is the sturdy, unflappable friend, Nick the Dick (Peter Dager) is the weasely frat boy and Professor Armagan (a faultless though somewhat wasted performance from Succession’s Hiam Abbass) is the tough but inspiring art professor.

There are enough dream sequences infiltrating the action to confuse even devoted fans, while Insidious newbies and part-time dabblers are left to wonder when Freddy Krueger might arrive on scene. Wilson’s first stab at direction is not entirely a failure, but neither does he push the franchise to any new heights.

Insidious: The Red Door is directed by Patrick Wilson and stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Hiam Abbass, Peter Dager, Sinclair Daniels, Andrew Astor and Ty Simpkins.  Insidious: The Red Door is currently playing in select theatres.