PLOT: A young mother discovers that she can travel to “The Further” , a realm of lost souls. But, it turns out that she can also bring these same evil lost souls back to the real world…
REVIEW: The red door has been opened once again, and it’s time to explore the depths of The Further. If you’re a horror fan, it’s absolutely impossible to ignore the Insidious franchise. From the masterful jump scare behind Patrick Wilson in movie one to its presence at Halloween Horror Nights over the years, the Lin Shaye-led series has become a staple of modern horror. And like any horror franchise worth its salt, there will always be a new one as long as audiences keep flocking to theaters. But the trick is figuring out how to keep it fresh while still giving audiences the moments they’ve come to love and expect from a long-running series.
In Insidious: Out of the Further, they address that balance with a bold swing. For the first time in the series, the ghosts and demons are able to make their way out of The Further and into our world. And they want the hell out of there.
Amelia Eve stars as Gemma, a young mother raising her daughter in the same house where she grew up. Unfortunately for Gemma, the house comes with a history, and when she discovers she can travel into The Further, the nightmarish purgatory inhabited by the dead and demonic entities of the Insidious universe, she finds herself caught between two worlds.But Gemma isn’t just another unfortunate soul wandering through The Further. She has a terrifying ability that could change everything: she can bring things back with her. And that’s where things get really bad.
When an evil presence called Cyrus Lam begins hunting Gemma, the demons of The Further quickly realize what she’s capable of. Suddenly, the boundary between the living world and the realm of the dead isn’t much of a boundary at all. Gemma can open the door, and whatever is waiting on the other side wants through. While it’s a fresh take, it doesn’t exactly break the mold. But the film knows what it is (and you do too): a fun, scary watch for a hot summer night.
The Insidious movies have been around long enough that you probably already know where you fall on them. And if you’re a longtime fan, you know there are certain staples of the series beyond just the ghosts themselves. At its core is always textured, complicated family relationships.
That cornerstone continues here, with Gemma (Eve) working through her relationship with her daughter Maya (Island Austin), while carrying the scars of witnessing her mother Ingrid’s death at a young age. Gemma continues to live in the house she grew up in, saying she wants to make it the home she never had despite the horrible things that occurred there (Insert commentary on how bad the housing market is here). It’s hard not to root for her thanks to Eve’s performance. She brings heart to both the character’s strengths and vulnerabilities, giving us someone worth rooting for as she faces off against the darkness.
Co-anchoring the film is Brandon Perea, whom audiences might recognize from Nope. He serves as the audience surrogate, learning about the world of The Further in a crash course, while also providing most of the lighter moments. He gives us a chance to breathe before we’re thrown back into the deep end. He’s a likable character all around, though the movie does lack the welcome presence of Specs and Tucker to bring those lighter moments to the table.
And then, of course, there is the familiar face that brings us all to the Insidious dance: the cool aunt of horror who guides us through the dark, lantern shining. I’m talking, of course, about the iconic Lin Shaye.
The film uses her sparingly, but whenever she’s on screen, it’s hard not to smile because of her presence. The movie even gives her a superhero entrance, swooping in to save Gemma in a moment that feels like something Marvel audiences would be clapping for if it were, say, Steve Rogers. She is the steady hand guiding the movie and is always a welcome presence. Shaye has lived in this character for 16 years now and brings a confidence and guiding spirit to the film, quite literally. As she says a few times in the movie, “It’s what I do.” Hell yeah it is.
The movie is directed by Jacob Chase, fresh off his breakout film Come Play. It can be tricky to take over a long-running horror series, but it feels like it’s in capable hands. He brings the traditional jump scares and some good tension-building, but I need to give special mention to my favorite sequence.
There is a moment where Gemma crawls into a pillow fort, and it becomes a haunted-house sequence experienced through her point of view. It’s dark, claustrophobic, and filled with things lurking in the shadows and pursuing her. It feels like one of those haunted attractions you can go through during Halloween, which makes perfect sense since Chase used to build haunted houses with his friends. He draws on that experience to give us a truly creepy sequence that could go down as one of the more memorable in the series.
But that’s not all, because he also brings a good serving of dental horror to the table. With Gemma being a dental hygienist, we get plenty of close-ups of some pretty gnarly mouths, with dental tools being used for some good tension-building. If the sound of a dental drill makes you squeamish, there are a few scenes where it might be a good time to refill your popcorn. I know I have some regrets about seeing this right before my dental procedure next week.
The movie definitely tiptoes the line of what it can get away with under its PG-13 rating and has some of the grosser moments I’ve seen in the series. Chase shines most when he’s building these moments, and it’s clear that his passion lies in making us as uncomfortable as possible.
And what would a horror movie be without its villain? This movie introduces us to Cyrus Lam, a cult leader of sorts who brings a menacing mix of Aleister Crowley and Jim Jones. Lam resides in The Further, but with the help of his acolytes, makes it his mission to use Gemma to bring the demons of The Further into our world. They are waiting impatiently to take it.
This concept allows for some fan service, bringing back a rogues’ gallery of spirits from the previous five films and turning the scenes in The Further into a demonic playground where some fan favorites get their moments to shine. While it’s great to see them back, the film has to remind us a few times that this is Lam’s movie. Thankfully, he’s a great addition to the canon of Insidious spirits.
Your mileage might vary depending on how you feel about horror movies taking bigger swings later in a series’ run. A good litmus test would be how you feel about the later Elm Street movies. Not because they’re similar in tone, but because they introduce new rules and lore to keep things moving, sometimes contradicting what was established in previous entries.
Here, that comes in the form of the “courier,” a person with the ability to bring spirits over from The Further. It’s also a bit Elm Street-ish in the way they can pull Freddy out of dreams. If you’re steadfast in the rules established by the movies so far, you might find this a stretch. But if you can look past it, it’s a good solution for keeping things rejuvenated.
It’s an ambitious move, though the execution has mixed results. The film can get a bit bogged down by its pacing, tending to over-explain the rules we need to know when we’re all waiting to get into the action. It also depends on your feeling about jump scares. I tend to find them a little cheap, but when they land, they land. They can overstay their welcome a bit, but there are certainly some standouts. But having said that, I had a good time with it. Just turn off your expectations and meet the movie where it is, and you’ll have a good time too.
In all, the sixth entry in the series brings great scares and inventive sequences, making it a fun watch to ease you out of summer and into the approaching Halloween season. The pacing can stumble, and the film can get its own concept a bit tangled, but the cast, both new and old, bring enough charm, and the ghosts bring enough scares, to make this a fun, scary night at the movies. And at the end of the day, I’m happy to report, it’s actually one of the strongest entries in the Insidious series. A rarity for the sixth entry in a horror franchise.
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