Dir. Patrick Wilson | Now in Theaters | Rating: 4/5

I realized I’ve never formally reviewed Insidious (2009) despite it being one of my top 5 horror films of all time. I’m not a devout follower of many franchises, but Insidious is definitely one of them. 

I rushed to see this because my feed was full of spoilers. Critiquing films that are sentimental is more challenging than a standard review. Are my opinions of this film jaded by my love for the franchise? Probably. I enjoyed Red Door and the previous installment The Last Key (2018). These are what I affectionately call “fan films.” They are love letters to fans of the franchise, the characters, the lore. A casual viewer may not be impressed by this. At a surface level it is a pretty tame contemporary release. 

The scares take a backseat in this film as it hones in on the relationship between Dalton and Josh. I know something that always gets my gears turning is what happens “after” the movie. This unspeakable horror has interrupted your life, now what? Red Door plays with that idea by displaying this broken relationship. Remnants of James Wan’s long and carefully paced jumpscares can be found here, but we are far from the little boy in the closet from the first film. 

Similar to Last Key, it also tackles generational trauma and the lengths we go to hide it from ourselves and others. We have an interesting side narrative of Dalton being an art student, which weaves in the concept of “chiaroscuro,” or light and dark. We see juxtapositions of good and evil, light and dark, past and future throughout the film. There is some cute college humor and solid performances by Ty Simpkins and Sinclair Daniel. In a lot of ways, we could consider this a sister film to Last Key. 

Does this hold a candle to the scares and grit of the original? No. But for me, I know very few films will come close to that. This was the end of one of the biggest horror franchises in the last decade and I felt pleased by where it left off. Not a win for everyone but I’m satisfied. 

Know Before You Watch: Mentions of suicide, flashing lights, blood.