Insidious: Out of the Further might not have happened without Lin Shaye. The franchise veteran has played Elise Rainier in every installment of the series. Although Sony announced in 2024 that a sixth movie was in development, it was later pulled from the studio’s release slate after a behind-the-scenes change. When Shaye learned about the possible cancellation of the sequel, he thought, “F*** this.“
Shaye was adamant that Insidious 6 move forward, so she wrote a letter to Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman and CEO Tom Rothman. She pleaded for the sequel to get made, arguing that the franchise’s fans deserved another movie. And…it worked. Rothman agreed to put the sequel back into development.
“It gives me chills because I don’t consider myself a mover and a shaker,” Shaye told Variety. “It’s not like I single-handedly got this movie made, but I spoke up. I think speaking up must never, ever stop. Don’t ever stop.“
Shaye has been in the business for decades, but she never considered herself to be someone with the power to make things happen. “I’m going to live until I’m 250, because I’m taking all this gorgeous energy that’s being delivered to me in such a graceful way. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” Shaye said. “I don’t feel powerful, but I don’t feel powerless.”
The sixth installment in the Insidious franchise was released in theaters on August 21st and has already grossed over $60 million worldwide. It follows a young mother who discovers that she can travel to The Further, but unfortunately, she can also bring evil spirits back to the real world.
Our own Ryan Cultrera found the film to be a pretty solid addition to the franchise. “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,” he wrote. “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.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
However, our own Tyler Nichols wasn’t a fan. In his ranking of the entire franchise, Out of the Further took the bottom slot, with Nichols saying he was “genuinely pretty shocked at how bad the latest entry ended up being,” even hoping it would be the final movie in the series.