Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
Directed by Patrick Wilson
The origininal Insidious was one of the last movies that truly affected me. You may laugh at that, but maybe I just watched it in the right circumstances? I remember being sick, and rented a movie from Family Video, yes Family Video. I heard alot about Insidious so I watched it. I was in a 100 year old house, by myself, rainy night. Idk, it spooked me a little at times. I really enjoyed it. My enjoyment with the series waned with each installment. I know I saw parts 2 and 3. I did not see the last key or whatever that shit is called, so I can’t touch on that one. Is that technically part 4 or is this? Or are these both spin offs? Or is this part of the Conjuring? They both have Patrick Wilson, idk this stuff runs together for me.
This movie takes place years after the first, Dalton, no not Patrick Swayze from Roadhouse (that would be badass) the boy from the first movie that goes into a “coma”, is an adult and goes to college. Patrick Wilson returns as the dad, and director this time so props Patrick! Dalton starts having flashbacks and visions of creatures from the further, as does Josh the dad. Now they must go further into the….further (I really planned that sentence out) to put their demons to rest once and for all or at least to feel out how this movie does and if theres any money left in this limping franchise right?
The acting is fairly decent. Patrick Wilson is always pretty solid and Ty Simpkins as Dalton was alright, he’s still not great but he’s passable for a horror movie. Rose Byrne is barely in this, which is a shame because she’s always good in everything, be it comedy or drama, plus she’s gorgeous so that helps. Sinclair Daniel plays Dalton’s roommate Chris, whom is a girl, and that was overlooked by the college I guess, but she gets a new room assignment after they become friends. Anyway, Daniel is pretty good, she’s witty and strong, good character.
I guess I’m kind of over this supernatural/demonic possession/ghost/paranormal stuff because I was rather bored the whole time. While the acting is pretty solid, the movie moves at a sluggish pace and really brings nothing to the table in the way of scares. Jump scares, creepy figures scurrying about, its your typical mid to late 2010s stuff we’ve all seen before. I found myself drifting off frequently and had to rewind. Yes I say rewind, I’m a VHS kid after all. What do people say these days? Go back? Scrub back? Rewind it is! Much like the other films, there aren’t any real “deaths” just “frightening” scenes. The cgi is meh most of the time and the scares had no effect other than a startle to me at times, which those are just cheap.
I really struggled with this. Did we need a 5th movie in this series? I don’t think so, but again I never saw the Last Key, maybe it is awesome? My guess is no. It is average at best. I will probably never watch this again. I gave this a C-, do more, do something different.
