Keeping things brief, Insidious The Red Door, is an utterly unnecessary sequel. Though it is occasionally enjoyable to see actors like Patrick Wilson reprising their roles, amid the inclusion of entertaining new characters, this instalment in the Insidious franchise is more of a family drama, with near non-existent horror elements, severely let down by poor pacing.
Expanding on this, the fifth Insidious film opens with Josh (Patrick Wilson), and his young child, Dalton, being put into a trance after the events of the second film, that will remove all memory of their time in 'The Further'; the otherworldly domain of ghosts and demons. Ten years on, and Josh has become 'slow' and 'foggy' as a result of his memory loss (something that is never explained), with his wife Renai (Rose Byrne) having divorced him, and his now young-adult son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) wanting absolutely nothing to do with him.
When Dalton goes to college, majoring in art, the work that he produces, including images of, you guessed it, a red door, awakens his long-buried memories of The Further, and causes him to astral project when he sleeps (the act of literally travelling into The Further while dreaming). With this in mind, you REALLY need to have watched the original movie, and its sequel, to have an understanding of this film's plot, which does next to nothing to explain its ideas to newcomers. As Josh wrestles with trying to overcome his issues, and Dalton experiments with his abilities more and more, the two men begin putting themselves, and those around them, in greater danger.
Wilson believably portrays a man annoyed by his circumstances. He is a sympathetic character, and we hope for his redemption. That said, the film puts him in some embarrassing situations - example, when he takes Dalton to college, and hovers over him, resulting in arguments. Byrne also deserves some credit, though she is hardly in the movie, which is a genuine shame. That leaves Simpkins with the job of having to carry much of the film, and to be frank, he's no Patrick Wilson.
That said, his room-mate Chris (Sinclair Daniel) is easily the best part of this film - sassy, sarcastic and smart, she brings a lot of charm to her role, and Dalton's art teacher, Armagon (Hiam Abbass), who should change her name to Armageddon, gives a great, though minor performance, as an overly critical professor.
Now, for those who watched the first and second Insidious films, you may recall they had a decent conclusion - which leaves me wondering, why was this film made? *cough* cash-grab *cough* Wilson not only stars in, but directs this instalment, and I hate to cast blame here, but this film's pacing is...not great. In a movie with an almost two-hour runtime, it takes 28 minutes before the first jump scare happens, and until that moment, I wasn't sure I was even watching a horror movie. The movie finally hits some stride after the half-hour mark, then develops bull-at-a-gate syndrome and rushes to an ending that deserved extra development.
When the film does attempt to build up suspense, example, something getting closer and closer to one of our leads off to the side, the scene drags on and on and on, and finally when something does happen, you may have already lost interest. In short, the film should have cut out some of the development in the first act, to quicken suspense and intrigue, tightened up its jump scares, and spent more time enhancing the final conflict.
That leads into the next issue - in a movie called 'Insidious', it should be, well, insidious. Dalton's first trip through The Further is akin to a nice stroll through the meadows. This is not helped by the more light-hearted tone that is often employed - I mean, how are we meant to take anything seriously when there is literally someone named 'Nick the dick'. Moreover, there is very little sustained threat to any of the characters, and the entities, which are hardly given any back-story (again, knowledge of the previous films needed), are about as malevolent as my mother's meat-loaf. I mean, if you were an ancient demonic being, who made its way into our world, would the first thing you do be to glare at the camera and laugh? The beings from the first movie were genuinely chilling - these ones, could be invited over for Christmas dinner.
Additionally, during the first, and also the third instalment, settings were often limited to one primary location, which helped establish these as inviting and ordinary, before turning them on their head. In the fifth movie, the wealth of settings - the Lambert family home, Josh's place, the college and all of its buildings - the list goes on, makes it challenging to really feel anything for these often generic locations, least of all fear. Further to this, whose perspective is this movie from? The narrative switches from Dalton to Josh, and though separating a family may, in theory, increase risk to character's safety, in this movie, it is done to the film's detriment, and ultimately cuts the tension in half.
As an aside, Wilson demonstrates competency in framing and shots. The ambient soundtrack is effective, and on rare occasion the dark atmosphere is well executed. It's also great to see Lin Shaye's Elise one last time - if only for the smallest of cameos. At the end of the day though, Insidious The Red Door is more a nice family drama than anything else - which is a far-cry from what the film ought to have been.
Expanding on this, the fifth Insidious film opens with Josh (Patrick Wilson), and his young child, Dalton, being put into a trance after the events of the second film, that will remove all memory of their time in 'The Further'; the otherworldly domain of ghosts and demons. Ten years on, and Josh has become 'slow' and 'foggy' as a result of his memory loss (something that is never explained), with his wife Renai (Rose Byrne) having divorced him, and his now young-adult son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) wanting absolutely nothing to do with him.
When Dalton goes to college, majoring in art, the work that he produces, including images of, you guessed it, a red door, awakens his long-buried memories of The Further, and causes him to astral project when he sleeps (the act of literally travelling into The Further while dreaming). With this in mind, you REALLY need to have watched the original movie, and its sequel, to have an understanding of this film's plot, which does next to nothing to explain its ideas to newcomers. As Josh wrestles with trying to overcome his issues, and Dalton experiments with his abilities more and more, the two men begin putting themselves, and those around them, in greater danger.
Wilson believably portrays a man annoyed by his circumstances. He is a sympathetic character, and we hope for his redemption. That said, the film puts him in some embarrassing situations - example, when he takes Dalton to college, and hovers over him, resulting in arguments. Byrne also deserves some credit, though she is hardly in the movie, which is a genuine shame. That leaves Simpkins with the job of having to carry much of the film, and to be frank, he's no Patrick Wilson.
That said, his room-mate Chris (Sinclair Daniel) is easily the best part of this film - sassy, sarcastic and smart, she brings a lot of charm to her role, and Dalton's art teacher, Armagon (Hiam Abbass), who should change her name to Armageddon, gives a great, though minor performance, as an overly critical professor.
Now, for those who watched the first and second Insidious films, you may recall they had a decent conclusion - which leaves me wondering, why was this film made? *cough* cash-grab *cough* Wilson not only stars in, but directs this instalment, and I hate to cast blame here, but this film's pacing is...not great. In a movie with an almost two-hour runtime, it takes 28 minutes before the first jump scare happens, and until that moment, I wasn't sure I was even watching a horror movie. The movie finally hits some stride after the half-hour mark, then develops bull-at-a-gate syndrome and rushes to an ending that deserved extra development.
When the film does attempt to build up suspense, example, something getting closer and closer to one of our leads off to the side, the scene drags on and on and on, and finally when something does happen, you may have already lost interest. In short, the film should have cut out some of the development in the first act, to quicken suspense and intrigue, tightened up its jump scares, and spent more time enhancing the final conflict.
That leads into the next issue - in a movie called 'Insidious', it should be, well, insidious. Dalton's first trip through The Further is akin to a nice stroll through the meadows. This is not helped by the more light-hearted tone that is often employed - I mean, how are we meant to take anything seriously when there is literally someone named 'Nick the dick'. Moreover, there is very little sustained threat to any of the characters, and the entities, which are hardly given any back-story (again, knowledge of the previous films needed), are about as malevolent as my mother's meat-loaf. I mean, if you were an ancient demonic being, who made its way into our world, would the first thing you do be to glare at the camera and laugh? The beings from the first movie were genuinely chilling - these ones, could be invited over for Christmas dinner.
Additionally, during the first, and also the third instalment, settings were often limited to one primary location, which helped establish these as inviting and ordinary, before turning them on their head. In the fifth movie, the wealth of settings - the Lambert family home, Josh's place, the college and all of its buildings - the list goes on, makes it challenging to really feel anything for these often generic locations, least of all fear. Further to this, whose perspective is this movie from? The narrative switches from Dalton to Josh, and though separating a family may, in theory, increase risk to character's safety, in this movie, it is done to the film's detriment, and ultimately cuts the tension in half.
As an aside, Wilson demonstrates competency in framing and shots. The ambient soundtrack is effective, and on rare occasion the dark atmosphere is well executed. It's also great to see Lin Shaye's Elise one last time - if only for the smallest of cameos. At the end of the day though, Insidious The Red Door is more a nice family drama than anything else - which is a far-cry from what the film ought to have been.