Insidious 5 Review: Patrick Wilson's directorial debut offers nothing but clichéd horror

The Insidious franchise is among the best in the horror genre. Don’t let that fool you into thinking that it’s an incredible achievement, because good horror is a genuine rarity. Insidious: The Red Door arrived in the theatres with a lot of promise. After The Conjuring director James Wan laid a foundation for the Insidious series alongside creator Leigh Whannell, actor Patrick Wilson took the directorial reins for the latest film. The end result, however, is plainly disappointing.

3 things you need to know: 

• Insidious: The Red Door is a direct sequel to Insidious 2, which was released in 2013. 
• Patrick Wilson, who plays the role of Josh Lambert, made his directorial debut with the film. 
• Wilson’s expertise in the horror genre ultimately fails against a weak script.

Hot Take

It should be noted that Wilson was also the face of The Conjuring for a considerable time, which is one of the more successful titles in the genre. That being said, Wilson couldn’t have picked a worse project to begin his directorial career with even if he was blindfolded. Following the trend of cashing in on nostalgia-driven franchises, Insidious: The Red Door is once again a mediocre addition to the series that was once synonymous with inventive horror. 

(The first Insidious film starring Patrick Wilson was released in 2010 | Image: InsidiousMovie/Twitter)

Is Insidious 5 worth the hype?

Insidious 5 has all the emotional hooks in place, and there are quite a few moments where the viewer can actually feel the intensity of the peril Josh Lambert and his son Dalton (Ty Simpson) are in. However, their ‘plot armour’ is pretty thick. That’s ultimately what becomes the main problem in the fifth installment. While the first film showed the shocking death of Elise Reiner (Lin Shaye), Insidious 5 has nothing of the kind to offer. It does go high with the jump scares, which are executed well, but their frequency impacts the enjoyment in the second half of the film.

Despite everything that is going against it, Insidious 5 does conclude the franchise for good. The last two titles were pretty underwhelming but The Red Door has more chronological value in relation to the first two films. Patrick Wilson’s direction actually aids this film in being more like its predecessors. The film is worth the time merely for the fact that it revisits characters we last saw a decade ago. However, this comes from a purely emotional standpoint, and not a horror-centric one. 

(A still from Insidious: The Red Door featuring Ty Simpson as Dalton Lambert | Image: InsidiousMovie/Twitter)

Watch it or skip it?

If you like horror that chills your spine at every chance it gets and sends you down a rabbit hole of delirium and paranoia, then go the other way. Insidious 5 gets too technical with the concepts that were invented in the franchise. Funnily enough, that works to its detriment, since the script clearly didn’t mention how shallow the main characters are implied to be. 

To prove the point, note that the ‘Further’ is all about the exploration of one’s inner self, as it has been previously illustrated. Since our main characters have no recollection of their past perils of the paranormal nature, they live life relatively free of any such threat. However, it takes only a minor visual trigger to start their horrors once again. So what does that mean? Are the characters so irreconcilably bad at introspection that they never get into this problem on their own? It’s clearly ludicrous. 

(Franchise star Patrick Wilson turns director with Insidious 5 | Image: InsidiousMovie/Twitter)

The Bottomline 

It’s an ageing franchise that is finally coming to an end. The performances were incredible, jumpscares were unconvincing, and the Lipstick Face Demon was, after years of build-up, undeniably cringe. It’s possibly the biggest disappointment in the world of horror cinema. Luckily, no more is left for the Insidious franchise to say, and if a sequel is announced now, prepare to be disappointed. 

Rating: 2.5/5