Should you step through 'The Red Door'?
"The Red Door" marks the fifth film in the "Insidious" franchise with many familiar faces reprising roles and some taking on new ones, like Patrick Wilson debuting his directorial skills.
I've been a fan of this franchise since 2010. It was a moment in time where horror was changing again. "Paranormal Activity" was still fresh in people's minds and audiences were craving more new flavors of horror.
So, who better to help evolve horror through the 2010s until the present, than the revolutionary filmmakers behind the hit "SAW" franchise, Leigh Whannel and James Wan. This new franchise, now at five films, took the creators in a supernatural direction.
Josh Lambert heads east to drop his son, Dalton, off at college. However, Dalton's college dream soon becomes a living nightmare when the repressed demons of his past suddenly return to haunt them both.
Trailer provided by Sony Pictures Entertainment
With a story from Leigh Whannel, and based on his characters, and screenplay by Scott Teems, notably one third of the writing team for "Halloween Kills", this film was directed by Patrick Wilson, who also plays Josh Lambert.
As far as horror movies and sequels are concerned, you could do a lot worse when it comes to story consistency and casts. This series does have a few quirks though. Not as convoluted as the "Halloween" franchise, which I love, this one has many orders you can watch them in.
Within the films' timeline, it goes, "Insidious 3", "Insidious: The Last Key", "Insidious", "Insidious 2", then "Insidious: The Red Door".
But do you really need to watch all of them? No.
The main villain in this film is a returning baddie from part one. This creature is not human like the other tortured souls in the "further". And it's known as the Lipstick Demon.
Actor Joseph Bishara has played the Lipstick Demon in every appearance in the franchise. If you know anything about this series, it's probably the iconic shot of Patrick Wilson looking forward with the red and black creature leering from behind his head.
The Lambert family was tormented by entities from the "further", and were helped by two paranormal experts and Elise, a woman with the same astral projection powers as Josh. The family is a broken household now, with parents Josh (Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) having divorced.
Their son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), is off to college to study art. He's brooding, quiet, and cool. The Lipstick Demon wants to possess Dalton.
We learn that Josh and Dalton had the whole year where they fought the Lipstick Demon and the Bride in Black from parts one and two, erased from their memory.
Now, if you've seen a good amount of genre films, like I have, you know repressing memories never leads to good things.
Dalton's art reflects his trauma he can't consciously remember. He paints a red door and doesn't understand why. His memories are returning, and he remembers he can astral project. This alerts the Lipstick Demon.
A quirky thing about the Lipstick Demon is he loves blaring his Tiny Tim records. The song "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as sung by Tiny Tim was utilized to great success in the first film. And as a fan of Tiny Tim, I was happy to see this element return, but this time his song, "Fill Your Heart". It's used in such a fun way.
Josh's ex-wife tells him the truth about the memory wipe after he's begun to see his dead father appearing in the real world.
Throughout the film there's a parallel fractured father-son relationship between Josh and Dalton, and Josh and his dad.
Dalton travels to the "further" to find the red door. The Lipstick Demon possesses him and traps his soul in the ''further''. Josh, now with his other son and his ex-wife, travels into the ''further'' to rescue Dalton. After a few jump scares, Josh find's Dalton and frees him.
The two run to exit the red door and somehow keep it shut. Their actions alert the demon in Dalton's body.
As the father and son escape the demon, he chases them down. Josh puts his back to the door to keep it shut, knowing he'll most likely die or be possessed. He tells Dalton to run back to his body. Dalton escapes and is able to erase the red door by painting over his red door painting. This saves Josh and the film ends on a somber note, not necessarily a happy one.
Actress Lin Shaye plays the standout character from the Insidious films, Elise Rainier. Lin is beloved by many horror fans and is also the sister of New Line Cinema's founder Robert Shaye, the man responsible for funding Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street", in which Lin Shaye has a small role as Nancy's high school teacher.
Although her character died in "Insidious 2", Lin Shaye reprises her role here in two small cameos that make sense in context. Leigh Whannel not only created this franchise with James Wan, but has starred as Specs, one of the two paranormal experts, in every installment. Here as a fun YouTube video that Dalton stumbles across through research on what's happening to him.
Patrick Wilson's directing is a worthy successor with strong skills here. I feel like the editing could've been tightened up, but I'm also glad the "jump scares" were less prevalent than earlier in the series.
VERDICT
I enjoyed the film for what it is. The acting is good, the relationships believable, and there's some fun social satire and even comedy reminiscent of the "Evil Dead" franchise. The visuals in the "further" remain iconic and faithful to Whannell and Wan's vision. It's a film to watch with a group of people in a pitch-black room for a quick hour and a half of fast scares and even laughter at times.