Star Cast: Patricqk Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, Sinclair Daniel
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Director: Patrick Wilson
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What’s Bad: Everything else
Loo Break: Definitely not because of the film’s scary elements
Watch or Not?: Only if you’re on a date & need a place with maximum darkness for an hour or so
Available On: Theatrical Release
Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
User Rating:
Nine years & 2 prequels (Insidious 3 & The Last Key) post getting depressed in the name of horror, we jump back into the mess of the Lambert family following Chapter 2’s proceedings to resolve things that should’ve been left as it is. Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) & his grown-up son Dalton Lambert (Ty Simpkins) are back as the father struggles to create a bond between them after whatever happened last time around.
Josh convinces Ty to drop him off at an idyllic, ivy-league university and that’s where the horror begins. Ty, for reasons best known to horror film writers, is into deadly gorey paintings which ultimately turn into a portal to another dimension. Known as ‘The Further’, this other world is designed due to the astral projecting ability of the father & son and the story revolves around how Josh helps Ty to not get sucked into it.
Leigh Whannell & Scott Teems’s story is a mess that unravels slowly. It tricks you into getting scared in the first half but very soon that emotion changes into having forty winks every minute as the narrative worsens further. Every horror movie is as good as its jumpscares & this one has a couple of good ones but many so worse that you can see them coming from miles.
Get Out fame Toby Oliver’s cinematography remains to be criminally restricted aligning to Patrick Wilson’s cramped, half-baked vision. It’s not that he doesn’t try to trick you into jumpscares with the camerawork but it’s the execution that falters most of the time. The crux of exploring the astral projection further was just the thing this franchise needed but unfortunately, it came with the wrong director (more on that in the ‘Direction’ bit).
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Patrick Wilson looks like he’s directing the film even while acting in it. His expression screams “Now, I’ve to take a shot like this” the whole time he’s on the screen. Purposely or not, he reserves the best jumpscare for himself (MRI) & that’s the only good scene in the film.
Ty Simpkins isn’t just in his element here. He looks like he was zoned out during the entire shoot and refused to change even a single note depending on various situations. Rose Byrne & Sinclair Daniel are just about okay, doing their job, nothing extraordinary.
Patrick Wilson should’ve stuck to the acting bit letting James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw) reacquire the director’s seat. This other-dimension portal subplot had a lot to be explored which boiled down to something very generic.
Joseph Bishara is the only person deserving a 5/5 for his work on the film. His BGM sucks you in despite whatever is going on screen and it starts right away with the production houses’ logos in the start. Paired with an immersive sound design, Bishara’s score remains to be the best thing about the film.
All said and done, a dialogue in the film says “Everything gets riskier as you go further” & upon decoding it I understand they meant it for the film’s story in general because “everything gets sh*ttier as things go further.”
Two stars!
Insidious: The Red Door releases on 6 July, 2023.
Share with us your experience of watching Insidious: The Red Door.
For more recommendation, read our About My Father Movie Review here
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